Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-11-08


neither changed our principles nor modified on,
measures. The world has come toward us: VIC
have not gone to the world. By what was one,
characterized as "the fooshness Of preaching.
and more lately derided as the "rub-a-dub of alto
luonism," this whole nation has been reused from
its guilty slumbers, and the entire land is now qua
king with wholesome agitation.
we said we would organize Anti Slavery Socie
ties IN every city .own and village, where it wal
possible; and we have done so. If some Of thcs,
Societies have been allowed to pass out of exist
ence it has been because their services as such il
tue growth OF our movement could be dispensed
with. All that have been found requisite to main
tain the anti-slayery forces in organized and har.
monlous activity are still in operation. One o.
these is the Pennsylvania Ant-Slavery Society
which Is here assembled. on whose behalf we now
speak. Aided by its effective auxiaries and afil
lated with other similar State organizations it has
performed its own pant in bringing about the state
OF things which we have indicated as at present
existing
We said ,'wo would send forth agents to lift ny
the voice OF warning and re6uke;" and we have
done so; rising up curly and sending" them
/ From the beginning until this time able and de
voted preachers of our faith have traversed tht
he!d, calling upon the people, whether they woult
/ hear or whether they would fUrboar, to cease {,
DO eVil and learn to do well to loose the bands o
wickedncss, to break every yoke and to let tn,
oppressed 60 free; to cease striking hands witt
lniquity, and no longer to be partukers in Other
mems sins: Faithfully have these agents don,
theil duty. Unmoyed By caumny and undetar
red by mob violence they nave continued steadfas
IN their work Of faith and labor Of love Somt
have fallen in the field in the midst of their tolls
while others survive, broken in constitution. but
ready still to do and die for the cause to which they
have consecrated themselves.
We said eve would circulate unsparngly anti
slavery trncts and periodicals." and have We
not done SO? Thick as the leaves of Autumn
have we scattered them. Millions upon million,
OF glowing pages have been strcwcd by us upon the
wings of the wind, ditusing the light of liberty
and kning against the slave system FIRE Of
indignation which, in the end, must bum it out of
existence.
We said ''we would enlist the pulpit and the
press iu the Of the suffering and the dumb, -
and on this point too have made good our
words. Among the most distinguished advocates
who now plead the cause 0l Freedom are men who
are or have been recognised and set apart as urn-
tessed ministers of the Gospel For although in
times past we have suffered much from the enmity
and opposition of this class the facts now
show that they are no more proof than other men
against the relOrmat0ry influences which soft
ening the hearts of the people. An evidence of
this is seen in the petition to Congress of the GOO
| New England clergymen against the Kansas n e.
braska bill and III the interest which is taken by
the clerical BODY generally, TO counteract the OBJ
lJeet-0t that Eefarous measure. As for the Press,
lhe change has been truly merveiOus. 50 great
hasr been the revolution 10 the character pi nn;
Northern newspapers that the collateral Issues
ab least now befpre the people of the great ,lYz
question, the lending jou5as, political relis sious
and commercial, the side Of Freedom. -
And as to the literature Of the day, it is not only
strongly favourable to our cause but it is essen
tally anti-slayery in its character having its growth
and deriving its chief support fIom the antislavery
sentiment Of the community. Anti-slavery novels,
anti-slavery biographies antslavery speeches and
antslavery essays, make up at this time the chief
reading of the country. The publishers of Mrs.
Stoves new book have issued 8, 500 copies Il dav
without being able 20 supply the demand; and
the readers Of Charles Summers last speech in the
Senate are estimated 10y millions.
We said I'VE would labour for the elevation Of
the free colored man, and foY the extrpation of the
prejudice by which he as oppressed" We have
done so, and cheering degree of success has
crowned our efforts. The moral, intellectual and
material condition Of the free coiored people has
been greatly improved. They enjoy the ben
eftS Of schools, colleges, newspapers lectures and
other privileges to which they were before com
paratyo strangers; and the success Of many Of
lhem in the acquisition of worldly wealth shows
that in this respect also they have the advantage
Of increased facilities and inducements. lEvidu-
Gus and oppressive laws against them have been
repealed, and the prejudice " hich once ground
them to the EARTH though still bitter, is not ex-
eusively cherished, ard where it exists is diyested
Of much Of its rGncour.
But there is need to enumerate specific evi
dences of our progress. a glance at the politics
Of the country and the pres Mt position and char
acer Of political parties, will make plain, without
further illustration, the point to which we have
reached Of antslavery advancement Now, for
the first time in the history of Presidential con-
tests, slavery is the sole and acknowledged issue
The question lis, not whether slavery shall be abO-
ished in the States where it now exists, but wheth
er or not it shall be extended into territory from
which it has hitherto been excluded. On this issue
the country has been divided into two parties-a
Northern party and Southern party The South
ern party has many active coadjutors at the
North and the Northern party has some udhe-
rents at the South. The Southern party has "a
Northern man for its Presidential candidate, tho
candidate of the Northern party is by birth and
education a Southern mat. The one party is call
ed the Democratic the other Republican, There is
apparently another party in the field, profess
ing to occupy intermediate ground, and styled
"American," but resolved into its original ee-
ments its members viii be found to belong TO one
or other Of the great divisions we have indicated.
The question being between slavery and free
don--between the sayenoding oligarchy and the
friends Of free labor and free nsttutions-the
test is necessarily sectional one. Until now the
South has ruled supreme in the counsels OF the
nation. They have dictated the laws and deter
mined the policy Of the country, OF late, however,
the tenure by which they have maintained their
sway has been greatly weakened. The develop
ments made by the anti-slavery movement have
opened peoples eyes, and the insolence Of South
ern domination has produced n natural reaction.
The passage by Congress Of the Kansas Nebraska
bin has proved n test too severe for even Northern
endurance The 2erfdious character of that meas
ure the proAigate means employed to torce it
through Congress, the unconcealed baseness of its
ultimate purpose and the bloody atrocities resort
ed to to give it final efect-murders, robbery,
rape the seal ping of men living and dead, and 9TH
er barbarities which would be dsgraceiul to saw
ages-al these things have combined to arouse the
North and revealed in new light the nature of sla.
very and the character of the whole slave system.
The consequence is, as has been snid, that in the
present Presidential contest parties are divided
solely upon tho slavery issue the party of the
North declare their purpose to make Kansas free
State, and deny the right of the Shareholders, un-
der the Constitution to retain possession of their
own municipal law. Thus, though there is no abo'
ltion issue before the people, no proposition being
made or purpose entertained OF interfering with
slavery where it is already established neverthe'