The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-05-19
The Rising Cloud.

1ue RISING CtoHo
The great battle between freedom and
slavery is gradually approaching. Yet
the country is everywhere quiet, and the
public tranquility undisturbed. Not even
the distant rumble ofthe tempestis heard
The little cloud that denotes it hovers on.
" over handful of people in the fal
West. In Kansas alone exists the specl
that foreshadows thecoming storm. Kan.
sas has been invaded by slavery. 1t i
threatened with the curses of that inst.
tuition. A country large enough for {
kingdom is there to be wrested from the
possession of the free States and black
ened with African bondage. The impu
dence of this attempt is paIalleled only
by It's atrocity. If it is successful, and
if House of Representatives can ever
be found that viii consent to consummats
the deed, the people of the free States
will have fallen into a condition so de.
graded that earth might we'll open and
swallow the pretenders to manhood
They will stain the ground wherein they
tread, and deserve no better fate than the
chains and letters that bind the black race
in the South. If a man can be found in
the free States to counsel surrender Of
Kansas to the slave power, now or at any
period, he is coward and a slave in soul
That power has entered upon career oil
subjugation and conquest. The free Ter
ritories of this Union are the possessions
| it coyets, and it has marshaled Its forces
and armed its mercenary hosts to conquer
them. The battle is begun.
We call upon the people of the free
states to ponder web the existing condi-
ton of things in the country, in respect
to slavery. Let them begin to brace
their nerves and grid their loins. Let
them begin to consider the question
whether they propose to live and die a
subjugated or an Independent race. Let
them say if they propose to submit tame
Iy to the invasion of the soil of freedom,
or if they will resolutely resist and repel
the invasion. Let no milk-and-watel
suggestion of our being one people deter
men from looking the coming crisis il
the face, or make them undervalue its
importance. We are not one people
We are two. We are people for free.
dom and people for slavery. Between
the two conflict is inevitable. A victory
viii be won against freedom, or slavery
will be driven back over the ruins of il
gross usurpations and confined within it,
4 legitimate limits under the Constitution
Look at Kansas. Behold the horde.
that have overrun her from the slave
states, trampling down every defense SCI
up by law and Executive authority, and
say if we exaggerate the impending dan
ger.
Kansas belongsto Freedom. She was
set apart to Freedom by the last genera
ton. The Free States are her godmoth.
ers. They are responsible to history and
to humanity for all the wrongs she suf
fers. To attempt to wrest Kansas from
her position as child and appendage OF
the free States, is just as much an ASSAULT
upon them as if a foreign enemy were
to descend upon their shores, and, plant.
ing bis flag, undertake to conquer and
keep portion of their soil. The idea
of submission in the one case is no more
to be entertained than in the other. The
man who would counsel resistance to
such aggression is as much a traitor in
one case as liz the other Indeed. the
man who would not resist the aggres-
sions of Slavery is the traitor of the
deeper dye. He is not only traitor to
his country but to humanity y
Tribune.