Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-05-19

to the cabin of tho slave. In vain you assert
these instances. In vain you show that there are
individuals who do not exert the wickedness of
the law. The law still cndures. The institution
of Slavery, which it defines and uph0lds, con-
tinucs to defy Public Orion, and. within the
limits Of our Republic, upwards of three millions
OF human beings, guilty only of II skin not colored
like your own, are left the Victims of its unright-
eUuS, irresponsible puwcr.
Power divorced from right is devilish; power
without the check of responsibility is tyrannical
aud | need not 60 back to the authority uf Plato.
vixen | assert, that the most complete injustice is
that which is erected into the form of law. But
all these things concur in Slavery. 1t is, then,
On tho testimony Of slnve-masters, solemnly, legis-
lativeiy, iadicrllly attested in the very law itself,
that | now arraIgn this institution, as an outrage
upon man and his Creator. And here is the ne
cessity of the Anti-Slayery Enterprise. A wrong
SO transcendant. 81 lUathsOme. 50 direful. must be
encountered rheRcrer IL can be reached. and the
battle must be continued. without truce or com
promise, until the field is entirely won. Freedom
and Slavery can hold no divided empire nor can
there be any true repose until Freedom is every
where established.
To the necessity of the Anti.Slavery Enterprise.
there are two ami only two vital objections one
founded on the alleged sanction of Christianity.
] All other objections are of an inferior character, or
are directed logically at its practicability. OF
these two loading objections, let me briefly speak.
|. And, frst. Of the alleged distinction Of race.
This objection itself assumes two different forms,
. one founded on n prophetic malediction in the
= Old Testament, and the other on the protested
J observations of recent SCIENCE. Its Importance is
apparent in the obvious fact, that. unless such
+ distinction be clearly and unmi ,takably established,
f every argument 10y which our own freedom is
e vindicated-evary applause awarded to tho sue
+ cessiul rebellion Of our fathers-evcr indignant
t word ever hurled against the cnslavement of our
t white leliOw-citizens by Algerine cOrsairs, must
! plead trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation
e Il Of Slavery. whether white or black.
1t is said that the Africans are the p%ostcrity Of
d Ham, the son of Noah, through Canaan, who
II was cursed by Noah, to be servant of his
t b%rethrea, and that this malediction has descended
upon all his rosterity, including the unhappy
Africans, who are accordingly devoted by God,
l. through uncnding generations, to unending bond
age. Such is The favorite argument often put
e forth at the South, and more than once directly
addressed to myself. Here, for instance, is a pas
sage from a letter recently received: "You need
not persist" says the writer, Sin coniOunding
iJaToth's children with Hams, and making both
races one, and arguing on their rights rs those of
5 man broadly" And | have been seriously as
surcd that until this objection IS answered, it will
h be in vain to press my views upon Congress or
!, the country. Listen to the texts of the Old
Testament which are so strangely employed.
u "And he (Noah) said, cursed be Canaan: a
servant Of servants shall he he unto his brethren.
And he said Blessed be the Lord God of Shem
and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall en-
large Japeth, and he shall dwell in the tents OF
, Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant" Genesis,
:. chap. TX. 24-27.
n That is all; and I need only read these word,
IN order to xposc the whole transpicuOus hum
bag. But | am tempted to add, that to justify
e this objection, it will be necessary to maintain at
least five different propositions, as essential links
in the chain of the African slave first, that by
IF this malediction. Canaan himself was actually
changed into a chattel. wereas he is simply madc
= the servant of his brethren secondly, that not
:, merely Canaan, but all his posterity, to the re-
= hottest generation, was 50 changed, whereas the
,. ~language has no such extent; Mirdly, that the
African, actually belongs to the rosterity Of Canaan
--an ethmog:nrhical assumption absurdiy difficult
to establish; Jo"rthLy, that each OF the descend
ants Of Shem or Japhcth has n rishJ TO hold
al African tcllow-mnn AS II chattel--propositior
q which fnGs no semhiance Of support: and
+, ftHy. that every slave-mnstcr is truly descend
Ell from Sbem or Japetl,-a pedigree which 1T
anxiety or andacity can p"ove! This plain an
alysis. which may fifty excite = smile, shows th'
fye-iold absurdity Of an attempt to found thu
rcvoltlng wrong on
X "Any successive title. long and dark.
Drawn from the musty rolls Of Noan's ark"
The small bigotry, which could frd comfort il
.. these texts, has been lately exalted by the sugges
ton Of science, that the different races of men arr
Il not derived from a single pair, but from severa
distant stocks, according to their several distinc
N"N' tsANA : FNiNF thA ~ ith' ~
argued that. the African is so far inferior. as t
yg lose all title to that liberty which is tie ~birthrigh
50 of the lordly white. Now, / have neither tim
lie nor disposition. on this occasion, to discuss tn
m question Of the unity Of races; MOI is it necessar
ed to my present purpose. 1t may he that the dill
IL ferent races of men proceeded from ditleren
We stocks but there is one great Human Family. il
Sc which Caucasian and African, Chinese and Indian
ID, are all brothers, children Of one Father, and heir
r- To one happinesS-alike on earth and in heavel
/ tStnr-npl asiappap rappnt shala thic pvorlnStin
ut truth. 1t may vainly exhibit peculiarties in tn
de African, by which he is distinguishable from tn
ny Caucasian. 1t may, in his physical form and il
lie ~tellectual character, presume to tnd the stamp ,
a permanent interiority. But by no reaci, of lcarr
to ing, by no torture of facts, 10y no effroutery
Of dogma, can it show that he is not q man. An
on as a man he stands before you an unquestionahl
member of the Human Family, and entitled
he all The rights Of man. You can claim nothin
If for Yourself. as man, which YOU must not accnl
~, to him. Life, liberty, and the pnrsuit IF hdpp
Ely neSs--which ypu proudly declare to be your ow
ms iualienable, Gud-given rights, and to the supro
not Of which your fathers pledged their lives, fortune
ed and sacred honor-are his by the same immort;
ST. title that they are yours.
it'll .. From no objection founded on the allege
N distiction of race, | pass to that other founde
tn, on the alleged sanction Of Sarery ly Chyistianit
not And . eking to be brief, | shall not undertake
'el reconcile texts often quoted from the Old Test
MI ment, which. whatever may be their import, a
be all absorbed in the New nor shall | stop TO con
slider the precise Interpretation Of the ~oft-quot'
ian phrase, Servants obey y0ur masters nor seek
i'm weigh any such imperfect injunction in the seal
against those grand commandments, on whic
i've hang all the law and the prophets. Surely,
be the example and teachings of the Saviour, VT
nd lifted mp the down trodIen, who enjuinod purir
ex- Of life, and overtlowed with tenderness even
little children, human ingenuity can find /
The apology for an institution which tramples on MAJ
Of which deGe5 woman, and sweeps little childre
ro- beneath the hammer of the auctioneer. If tn an
to one these things seem to have the license
ere Christianity, it is only because they have first s
Try cured n license in his own soul. Men are prom
" to fin in uncertain, disconnected texts, confirm
ks ton Of their own personal prejudices or prep1
ny sessions. And l-who am no divine. but only