Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-04-26

Our application of it is, that, by his own show
ing, and us an unquestonable fact, 1T is nothing
but the continuance of this blood-cemented Union
which gives vitality and protection to slavery;
therefore, LET TIE ROPE BE CUT!
This is what Henry Ward Beecher says on the
same subject
"A great many people raise cry about the
Union and the Constitution, as if the two were per-
fectly identica but the truth IS, that is the Con
stitttion itself that is the cause of every division
which this vexed question of slavery has ever oc
casioned in this country. 1t has been the fourtain
and father of our troubles, by attempting to ho6
togeic7 rcconciled, tro opposing principles,
,ciU not Rdrmonize nor agree
Now this is precisely what we declare, in re
gard to that instrument Why, then, does not
Mr. Beecher boldly take dsunion ground? The
distinction he makes between the Union and the
Constitution is purely fanciful. The twain ar,
one; the abrogaton of the one is the death of tht
other. Destroy the Constitution, and what re
mains Of the Union?
i think says Mr.. Parker, that if we wer,
to dissolve the Union it would he difficult to tel
where to draw the line Why any more Difficult
than it was in the Colonies, prior to the Declara
ton of Independence, when toryism. like moderi
pro slavery, extensively prevailed, warmly espous
ing the side of despotism The line must first b.
drawn around every manly, liberty-loving spirit
each one for himself, after the manner of Joshui
of old IF it seem evil unto you to serve thu
Lord choose you this day whom you will serve
whether the gods which your fathers served tha
were on the other side of the foodor the gods Of thu
Amorites in whose land we dwell; but as for M
and my house. we will serve the Lord Next, hell
to revolutionize the public sentiment of the North
by setting a right example, and enforcing the dut!
of secession. If she has voluntarily entered int
an unholy compact, can she not voluntarily with
draw from it, declaring the conditions Of unioI
imposed upon her by the South to be morally in
surmountabe and horribly degrading? OF cours
she will not do this until she is thoroughly aboli
tionized; hence it is obligatory upon every tru
friend of the slave to endeavor to bring her to
sense of her duty and not to 'daub with untemper
ed mortar She is not the principal, in this de
monical work Of slavery, but an accomplice; sh
has no conceivable interest in its continu
ance; her soil is cultivated by free labor, her inst
tutons are free, her prosperity and safety are de
pendant upon freedom. 1t is now union of tn
living with the dead.
G. We have said that Mr.. Parker objects to dis
union in terms, rather than in fact. Let us Sc
what he proposes to do within his Union, 'withou
disturbing it He says
Rather than one more fugitive slave should be sen
back would let the Union be broken into frae
ments no larger than the space upon whic
this building stands: ard then | woul
place myself upon littIe piece of free SOIL whic
was not contaminated with my brothers blood.
But it seems to me that the dissolution of tn
u .IigJ., ,,-ar-ovv-7aryz Lei naL u
without disturbing it, The free States can choos
for its officers men who are men-men made b.
Nature, and not by natures Journeymen. Thel
let New York pass Personal Liberty Bill, declar
ing that no slave owe labor service, and tha
any person claimed as slave shall be deemed {
freeman: and pass a law to imprison kidnappers
All this you can do at Albany, any day, withou
violating theConstituton, for ycu are sovereigl
State.
Then, in a national point of view, repeal all fu
gitiye slave bills. Then abolish slavery in the Dis
trict Of Columbia and all the territories. Abolst
the entire slave-trade and make it piracy Ther
make slaveholding incapacitate a man from hold
ing any Office. Then reconstruct the United State
Judiciary-they need not remove the judge from
Office but remove the Office from the man. Then
in their places, would take honest men, who love
God and love men. and then the Constitution woult
no longer be a pro-savery document.
There arc things in that document that are ba(
things, which | would tread under my foot. BU
there are other things which are noble, and the
preponderate. Then, at last, would decree da
fixed and certain, whcn each State should a6Olis
slavery and if they did not do it, the governmen
should take possession of them, and form Re
publican government. In the next six months W
can place q Republican man in the Presidentlu
chair, and if that is accomplished, freedom Will
triumph.
Truly, if all this may be done without havin!
the Union even disturbed, the monster SLAYER,
must have suddenly become very gentle beast
whose roar is like that of a. nightingale. Moral
speaking,we have supposed and the land has ioun
him to be- the very leviathan Of whose power an
desperation job has given so graphic desert ptior
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? o
his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Will
make q covenant with thee? Certainly our bt
loved friend seems to think, nothing is easier =
Alas his heart is as firm stone; yea, as har
as piece of the neither milestone. When he rai>
eth up himself the mighty are afraid Mr.. Pan
ker would henceiOrth allow no fugitive slave to b
sent back from the North; he would imprisOn eV
cry Shareholder seeking his runaway property o.
our soil; he would repeal all fugitive slave bills; h
would abolish slavery in the District OF Columb
and all the territories and the domestic slave trade
he would make slaveholding incapacitate maj
from holding any Offce-(how quietly She Sout
would submit to this !)-he would make the Con
stitution mo longer q pro-slavery 0Ocument-(n
feathers would fly in that case )-and then, at las
he would decree a day. fixed and certain, whe
each State should abolish slavery, and if they di'
not do it, the government ,cOuld take possession
them, and form a Republican government -. An
all this without even disturbing the existing Urion
Why, almost any one of these propositions, if cal
red out would blow this Union into fragment.
certainly, attempt to enforce them all, especial
ly the last, would not leave stone OF 1t upoi
another. Where Mr.. Parker finds the right o
the power conferred upon the government. by tn
Constitution, to compel emancipation IN the slaV
States, at the mouth of the cannon and the bayon
cts point. we do not know: we must deny that !
exists and assert that its exercise would be an ac
of usurpation that would lead to civil war, an
deluge the land with blood When he says that
by placing Republican in the Presidential chan
within the next six months, freedom will triumph
he is alluding to some Republican party OF who's
existence we have not yet been apprised. The ke
publican party, actually organized, has abandone
every issue with the Slave Power, except that o
the Missouri Compromise, and is totally silent II
regard to the repeal Of the Fugitive Slave Law
the abolition of slavery in the District Of Colum
bia, &C.. &c. The success of its capdidate, there
fore, will not be the triumph Of freedom in an
such sense as Mr.. Parker contemplates.
There seems to us but one consistent, straight
forward course to pursue; and that is, to acknow
edge the niquity of the present national compac
and to seek its immediate dissolution.
The seizure of rifles destined for Kansas wi