Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1855-09-08
THE AGGREssI0Ns OF sLAvERY--THE I'M
PENDING DANGER--DUTY OF THE NORTH

That the patriots of the Revolution, they
who through the dark and drying scenes of
that %eventful struggle, which gave us existence
as a Nation, looked upon the institution of
slavery as a National evil, as a blot and stain
upon the comtry's fair name, cannot be con-
troverted-and indeed, will hardly be denied.
They found the curse fixed upon the country 4;
existing in every one of the thirteen States
For its existence they were not responsible !;
but there was no diversity of opinion and ex-
preston in regard to its character. That ex-
preston was one of universal reprobation.-
Shareholders and Others alike shared the gen.
eral feeling, alike uttered the common senti-
ment that a system which consigned men to
bondage was a moral, social and political evil,
and a National disgrace. The attention of the
best men in the early days of our National exis-
tence was given to the solution of the difficult
question which necessarily obtruded itself, but
without success.
In those early days, when privations and
sufferings in the cause of liberty, had implant-
ed in the founders of our Republic an exalted
patriotism, there were none to advance the
doctrine that the Constitution nationalized
slavery-that it was a national and social bles-
sing, and that its area was to be extended and
its existence perpetuated. On the contrary,
while concessions were made of necessity from
the fact of its existence, the slave trade was
broken up, and steps taken for the emancipa-
ton of slavery in many of the States. That it
was to be extended was a proposition so mon
strous and absurd, so opposed to the philan-
thropic and patriotic views of the day, as not
to be entertained. The acquisition of Florida
cessity, conceded in by the whole country, and
having no conneXion with the question of sla-
very, or if it had, so eminently necessary and
wise a purchase, as not to meet the opposition
of those who would have been unwilling to &C
quire new slave territory for the purpose of
strengthening the institution.
Of late years, the attitude of the South has
been very materially changed. Slavery is no
longer looked upon as an evil, which would be
removed, if possible, but which at least, should
be confined within existing limits but on the
contrary, her statesmen and public men are
claiming for it the high sanction of Divine au-
thority, the appreciation of the Constitution,
and a necessity arising from political and So
cial economy. Instead of the testimony which
JErPFpSON op1 TTrNpv opI M,eoN ,nJ ,oouo
of the best and most sagacious men of the
South left on record, the orators of the South
are claiming that the institution is a blessing
and an honor, and demanding for it the pro-
lection of our laws and the guardianship of
the Constitution. The Egis of our freedom
is misapplied for the protection of an %institu-
ton which our forefathers r%eprobated, which
is a stigma upon our national honor, and a re-
proach to our name abroad.
There can no longer be any question that
the two great and opposing principles incorpo-
rated in our National organization, are now
engaged in a struggle which must eventuate in
the preponderance of one or the other. The
time is fast fastening when slavery must yield
to the everything principles of Freedom, and
be content with the security guaranteed it by
the Constitution of our country, with its pre-
sent limits, and a fair share of influence and
patronage, or the spirit of liberty will be crush
ed beneath the iron rule of despotism, and free
men yield up to the slaveocracy the best por-
ton of their dearest rights. 1t will be well
for us, as Northern freemen, to consider the
aggressions of slavery upon the constitution
and its encroachments upon our soil to notice
how intolerant and p%roscriptive, how arrogant
and pr%esumptuousi it has become the imminence
and extent of the danger which threaten our