The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1855-06-12

st the desire of knowledge, opening to him th
It gntes Of hope on earth and in heaven, but III
IS master may impiously close this sacred pursui
n Thus is he robbed not merely ofprivileges br
] of himself, not merely Of money and labor bu
i Of wife aud children; not merely of time an
+ opportunity but of every assurance of fhappines
d not merely of earthly hope but of all those d
: vine aspirations that spring from tho fountai
r of light. He is not merely restrained in liber
ty, but totally deprived of il; not merely cur
n tailed in rights but absolutely stripped of them
not merely loaded with burdens but change,
into beast of burden; not merely bent I
1 countonance to the earth but sunk to the lega
. level of a quadruped; not merely exposed &
personal cruelty but deprived Of his characte
, as person; not merely compelled to nvolun
l tary labor but degraded to be rude thing;no
merely shut out from knowledge but wreste,
from his place in the human family. find al
this, Sir, is according to The simple ia,c Of Siave
y ry.
Nor is even this all. The law by cumulatv,
provisions positively forbids that Slave shall
{ be taught to read. Hear this, fellow citzcns
and confess that no barborism of despotsm, NJ
extravaganza of tyranny, no oxcoss of impietv
can DO more blasphemous or deadly. "Trair
up child in tho way he should co. is the los
sou of sscrcd wisdom; but the law of Slavery
boldly prohibits any such training, and doomt
tho child to hopeless ignorance and degrade
tion. "Lot there be light" was the Divine
utterance at the very dawn of Creation--and
this commandment, travelling with the ages and
the hours. still speaks with the voice Of God;
but the law of Slavery says "Let thero be dark
| ness.
But it is earnestly averrcd that slavo-masters
are humane and that slaves are treated with
kindness. These averments l properly put a.
side, precisely as have already put aside the
multitudinous Illustrations from tho cruelty of
Slavery. On tho simple letter of tho law ]
take my stand, and do not 60 beyond what is
there nominated Tho masses of men arc not
better than their laws, and whatever mny be
the ominence of individual virtue it is reason
able to infer that the masses Of slavo- -mastors
are better than tho law of slavery. And since
this law submits the slavo 10 their Irresponsible
! control, with power to bind and TO scourge-
to shut the soul from knowledge--to separate
families-to unolasp tho infant from a mothers
breast and the wife from a husbands arms-it
is natural to conclude that such enormities arc
sanctioned by them, while tho brutal prohbi-
tcn of instruction by supplementary law gives
crowning evidence of their complete completely
And this conclusion must exist hnquestioned
just so long as the law remains unrepealed.-
Cease thcn to blazon the humanity Of slave
Wuoboiss Oii hio ilOt VI thc ichiy WIN WiiSh
this cruel law is tempered to its unhappy sub
jects. Tell me not of the sympathy which over
flows from the mansion of the master to the
cabin Of tho slave. In vain you assert these
instances. In vain you show that there are
individuals who do not exert tho wickedness
of the law. The law stiii endures. Tho instr
tuition of Slavery which it defines and upholds
continues to outrage public opinion and within
the limits of our Republic upward fthreo mil
lions os human beings guilty only of skin not
celorod like your own are left the victims of
its unrighteous, irresponsible power.
Power divorced from right is devish; power
without the check of responsibility is tyran-
nicle: and need not 60 back to tho authority
of Plato, when | assert, that the most complete
injustice is that which is erected into the form
of law. But all these things concur in Slavory.
1t is, then, on the testimony of slave masters,
solemnly lcgislatively, judciously attested in
the very Law itsolf, that now arraign this ms
titution rs ON outrage upon man and his Crea-
tor.
And here is the necessity of anti slavery en-
terprise. A wrong so transcendent, so loath-
some, so direful must DO encountered, whor-
ever it can be reached, and tho battle must be
continued without tho truce on compromise,
until the field is entirely won. Freedom and
Slavery can hold 70 divided empire: nor can
'HOiO pO ouy t'uc 'SpVoo bhih 10
everywhere established.
To tho necessity of tho Anti-Slavery Enter
prise there are two and only two objections
one is found ed on tho alleged distinction of
race, and the other on the alleged sanction of
Christianity. All other objections are of an
interior character, or are directed logically at
it's practicabilty. Of these two leading OBJ
jections let me briefly speak.
/. And. first, of the alleged distinction Of
race. This objection itself assumes two differ
ent forms, one founded on prophetic maledic-
ton Of tho Old Testament, ann tho other on
the professed observations of recent science
It's Importance is apparent in the obvious fact,
that unless such distinction be clearly and un
established, every argument by
which our own freedom is vindicatcd-every |
applause awarded to the successful rebellion
of our fathers-every indignant word ever hur-
led against the enslavement of our white fellow
citizens by Algerine corsairs, must plead trum-
pet-tongued against the deep damnation of
Slavery, whether white or black
1t is said the Africans arc tho postersty Of
Ham the son of Noah, through Canaan, who
was cursed by Noah to be tho servant Of his
brethren. and that this maledcton has descen-
ded upon all his posterity, undevoted by God,
through ulonding generations, to unending
bondage. Such is tho favorite argument often
put IOrlu ut tue SOUTH, auu moro tuah ouco |
directly addressed to myself. Here, TO: in
stance, is a passage from lettor, lately receiv-
cd: "You need not persist says the writer
''in confounding Japheth's children with Hams
and making both races ono, and arguing on
their rights as those of man, broadly" And
| have been seriously assured that until this
objection is answered it will be in vain to press
my viows upon Congress or tho country. Lis
ten now to the toxts of tho Old Testament
which arc so strangely employees:
"And he (Noah) said, cursed be Canaan. servant
Df sevants all he be unto his brethren. And he said
blessed be the Lord God Of Shem; and Canaan shall
be his servant. God shall enlarge Jnphcth and he
shall dwell in the tents Of Shem, and Canaan shall be
his servant."--[Gon. chap. tx. 25-27.
That is all; ana need only read these words
in ordor to expose the whole transpicuous hum
bug. But am tempted to add, that to justify
his objection. il will be necessary to maintain
1t least fve difforont propositions, as essential
inks in tho ain Of tho African slave; first,
hat by this malodiction, Canaan himself was
actually changed into chattcl, whereas no Is
simply made tho servant of his brethren; Sc
.ondfu that not merely Canaan, but all his pos