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

n from the stake. from the cross, until at Ia
~ her voice has been heard And when tn
voice is really heard, whether in martyr cri
or in earthquake tones OF civil convusion,
q in the calmness or ordinary speech such as
now employ, or in that still, small utterance i
! audible TO the common ear, then is tho begi
! ming of victory "Givo me whore to star
i and will move tho world" said Archimedd
: and Truth asks no moro than did the mast
: of geometry.
Viewed in this aspect, tho present occasio
rises above the ordinary course of lectures
series of political meetings. II is the inaug,
ration of Freedom. From this time forwar
her voice of warning and command cannot
slonced. The sensitive sympathies of proper
ty may, in this commercial mart, once agai
may recognize property in man; tho watchft
Press itself may falter or fail. but the vantage
, ground of FREQ discussion now achieved cannC
be lost. On this take my stand, and, a
from tho Mount Of Vision, behold mo. Their
is no point, topic, fact, matter, reading or al
gumont touching tho question between Slave
ry end Freedom which is not now open. O
all these 1 might aptly select somo one an
confno myself to iis development But
should not in this way best satisfy tho seomin,
requirements of the occasion. According t.
the invitation of your Committee was Il
make an address introductory to tho presen
course Of lectures, but was prevented by i'll
bealth. And now at the close of the course,
am to say what failed to say at its begin
ming. Not rs caucus or Congress can ad
dress you; nor am / moved to undertake po
litical harangue or constitutional argument
Out of the occasion lot me speak, and, discar
ding any individual topic, strive to exhibit tie
entire field in all its divisions and subdivisions
| with all its metcs and bounds.
| My subject will be- The Necessity, Practica
biity and Dignity Of the .9ati- Slavery Enter
prise, Nth Ghmpses at the Special Duties o.
the North. By this enterprise do not NEAR
the efforts of any restricted circle, sect or par
| ty, but the cause of the slave in oil its form,
and degrees and under oil its names-whethe
inspired by tho Pulpit tho Press, tho ocono
mist or the politician-whether in tho early
persistent and comprehensive demands of Gar.
ison, the gentler utterances OF Charming, OF
the strictly constitutional endeavors now ac-
tualy sharing the public counsels of the coun
try. To carry through this review under its
different heads, shall not hesitate to moet
the objections which have been urged against
this Enterprise, SO far at least as am aware
of them. And now, as l address you seriously
venture 10 ask your serious attention even to
the ond. Not easily can a public address
roach that highest completeness which is found
in mingling the useful and the agreeable; but
desire to say that, in this arrangement and
ordination of my remarks tonight, | seek
TO cultivate the highest courtesy of spoak-
or which is found in clcarness.
l. begin with the Necessity Of the An
ti-Slavery Enterprise. Its wrong of Slavory,
as defined by the eristing ia,o this necessity is
plainly apparent; nor can any man within
the sound of my voice, who listens to the
authentic words Of the law, hesitate in my
conclusion. A wrong so grevious and un-
questionable should not be allowed to con-
tinue. For the honor of human nature and
for tho good of all concerned, IL should at
once cease to erist. On this simple statement
as on cornerstone. found tho necessity
of the Ant-Slavery Enterprise.
do not dwell, Sir on the many talos
which comes from tho house of bondage; on
the bitter sorrows there undergone; on the
flesh CALLED by tho manace or spirting blood
beneath tho lash; on tho human form mutt
lated by tho knife or scared by tho red-hot
iron; on the ferocious scent of blood hounds
in chase of human prey; on the sale OF fa
theirs and mothers, husbands and wives, broth
ers and sisters, little chldren-even infants
at the auction block; on tho practical
prostration of all rights, all ties, and even
all hope; on the deadly injury to morals.
substituting concubinago for marriage, and
changing tho whole land of Slavery INTO a
by-word of shame only fitly pictured by the
terrible language of Danto, when he called
his owe degraded country House OF Ill
Fame; upon the pernicous Influence upon
the master as we'll as tho slave, showing it.
self too often even by his own confession in
rudeness Of character, and especially in that
blindness which renders him insensible TO the
wrong he upholds, while he,
g So perfect is his misery.
No once perceives his foul Disagreement
But boast himself more comely than before"
On these things do not dwell, although vol
umnes are at hand of unquestionabe facts,
and of illustrative facts so just and happy as to
vie with fact, out of which might draw until,
like Macbeth, you had supped full of horrors.
But all those put aside; not because l do
not regard them Of moment in exhibiting the
true character of Slavery, but because desire
to present this argument on grounds above all
controversy, impeachment or suspicion, even
from slave masters themselves. Not on tri-
umphant story, not even on injisputable facts
do now accuse Slavery, but on its character
as revealed in its own simple definition of itself
Gu. of its own mouth do condemn IT, BY
the taio Of Slavery man created in the image
of God is divested of his human character and
declared to be a nero chattel. That this state
ment may not seem TO be put toward without
precise authority quote the law oftwo differ
ent States the civil code of louisiana thus do
fines slave:
"a slaveis one who is in the power of master to
whom he belongs. The master may sell him. dispose
Of his person, his industry and his labor He do
nothing possess nothing, acquire any thing but
what belongs to his master.-Civil Code, Art. 3 -
The law of another polished Slave State
gives this defnintion:
"Slavcs shall be deemed, sold, taken, reputed and
ldudged in law to be ehals personal in the hands OF
heir owners and possessors and their executors ad-
ninstrators and assgnees to oil inents, construct
ons and purposes whatsoever.-[2 Brew. Dig 229.
And careful writer, Judge Stroud, in q
work of juridica as well as phanthropic merit,
hus sums up the law:
"The cardinal principle of Slavery--that the slave
s not ranked among sentisNt being, bu; among things
lis an article ofpoperty "A chattle persona-obtains
Is undoubted law in all Of these hc slave States.
tStroud's Laws Of Slavery, 90.
Sir, this is enough As out of It's small egg
,rawls forth tho Shiny, scaly reptile crocodile,
10 out of this simple definition crawls forth the
whole Shiny, scay monstrosity by which man
s changed into a chattel-a person Is convert