The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-03-18

that thew are the gifts of God a---THAr THEY
AR. NOT TO BE VIOLATED BUT WITH his
WRATH" :,
I now pass to the third collateral issue-the
riioh of all men to enjoy happiness. l need not
repeat that the ultimate beatitude OF the race
constituted the evident design of Deity in Gre
ating mankind. Such understand to be the
instructive conviction of all men. This pur.
pose, this hope, this intuition, is found in every
human heart. Men in all ages, in all countries,
of all languages, have regarded this as the ulti-
mate object of their tolls and labors, the great
design Of their existence. This bestitude can
only be attained by moral culture; by extend
ing the sphere Of thought; by understanding
the laws of nature and of natures God; by at
tanning knowledge of His attributes, and con-
and just is to insure happiness in this life, and
feature in the law of our being, that to attain
this happiness ourselves, we must respect the
right Of others to enjoy it; that, as we elevate
our own moral natures, we necessarily influence
others; and as We labor for the welfare and the
happiness of others, we most rapidly promote
our own. The religious man delights in doing
good he seeks to instruct the ignorant, to ele.
vate the degraded, to relieve the oppressed, to
enlighten those who SIT in moral darkness, to
give to all that elevation of soul which alone
can qualify them for happiness. For this pur
pose, schools and academies are established
colleges are founded, tract and Bible and mis-
sionary societies are organized, teachers and
ministers are employed. Indeed, this work oil
elevating our race constitutes the highest and
hottest employment of mankind For success
in this work, prayer is daily made at every
family altar; and on the Sabbath, our spulpits
resound with the solemn, fervent supplication,
that God will aid this work that He will, by
the irresistible power of His grace, convert the
irreligious, enlighten those whose minds are
enshrouded in the darkness of infdelity; that
he will yelieoe the oppressed, comfort the aflict
ed, and hasten the day when all shall know His
will, obey His law, and enjoy His favor.
The infdelity which denies the right of men
to attain happiness, that dooms q portion of our
race to degradation and torture, to vice and
crime and misery, which shuts out hope from
the human soul, shocks the conscience and
awakens the sensibilities of all religious men.
ton of these natural, these God given rights,
they will receive the approval, the support, OF
all good men, and their laws will be respected
and obeyed; but when they legislate for the
invasion of these rights, they call up the hos,
tility, the resistance, of those whom they seek
10 Cypress. The just and wise and pure, of all
parties, sects, and denominations, feel the out
rage, and sympathize with the down-trodden.
The great heart of Christendom now beats in
sympathy with the enslaved of our land. We
feel that sympathy in this Hall and when we
speak for justice and for freedom, we utter the
voice of nature. We proclaim the law OF
Heaven, written in letters of living light upon
the tablet of the moral universe.
The difficulties respecting Kansas, which
now shake our Union to its very centre, consti
tute the legitimate outworkings of this infdeli.
ty. The right of all men in Kansas to live, to
nourish and protect life, attain moral elevation
and happiness, had been asserted By Congress.
sional law /; and under this enactment, peace
blessed our nation. InGdels, however, said this
was wrong; that such rights did not pertain to
man that one portion of the people there hold
the power, and may, if they choose, rightfully
enslave another, rob them of their toll, their
intelligence, their hopes, their manhood, and
murder them if they refuse to obey their mas
tiers. And this law of liberty was repealed,
and men were enslaved, brutalized, sold like
swine. The public conscience was outraged
and all good men sympathized with the op
pressed. Usurpation and bruce force were re-
sorted to for the purpose of extending and sup
porting Slavery; civil war, devastation, and
bloodshed, followed, and will continue unit
Justice be done, and the rights of human nature
enjoyed, in that unfortunate Territory.
This line Of demarkation, which separates the
natural rights of all men from human legisla
ton, was clearly drawn by the founders of our
Republic. They established the point at which
the appropriate, the just powers of all human
Governments commence, whatever may be their
form. They defined the boundaries of human
authority; they acknowledged God as the au
thor of life, the donor of liberty, the fountain
from which human happiness is derived. On
the denial of these religious, these selfeviden,
truths, American Slavery is founded. The
STAKEHOLDER denies the right of his slave to
cherish and protect his own life, to gain intelli
gence, to unfold his moral nature, to under
stand Gods attributes, and enjoy that happ
ness for which he was created. To those pri
fellow mortal he is infidel. To Gods highe,
law he is infdel. Against these he wages I'M
ceasing war. He seeks to rob Deity of His at
tributes, and man of his God-given prerogatives
BE claims for human legislation that supreme
sovereignty over the life, the liberty, and the
happiness, of mankind, which belongs only to
the Creator. He thus places himself in hostili
ty to Christianity, to civilization.
This contest is not confined to the United
States. These truths are operating upon the
hearts of the Russian people. Their Govern.
ment is in advance of ours. Measures have al
ready been taken for the emancipation of the
serfs of that vast Empire, although their condi.
ton is far better than that of American slaves.
Holland is also moved by these doctrines, and
is giving freedom to her oppressed people in
her West India islands. England and France
have abolished Slavery, regarding it as an in
stitution unsuited to the age in which we live.
We assert the rights of man wherever he exists
Ours is the cause Of Christian civilization
throughout the world. Our doctrines apply
with equal force to other Governments, to
other nations and people. The most illustri
Gus monarch who sways the sceptre of human
power is really as much bound to respect the
lnalienable rights of every individual as is the
President of the United States. Kings, poten
tates, and emperors, become dsspots whenever
they invade the rights of the most humble, to
lie, liberty, property, or happiness.
The mere name of "republcanism gives
rs no claim to respect, so long as one-sixth
part of our population ia held in degrading
bondage. | assert, without fear of contradic
ton, that if the Liberty enjoyed by one portion
of our people, and the Slavery suffered by the
other, could be brought into common stock
and each individual constrained to take his ali
quot proportion of each, ours would be re
garded as the most perfect despotism among
civilized nations. The only advantage which
we possess over other nations consists in thai
feature of our Government which vests all DO
itical power in the people. They may, BY use
of the ballot.box, 30 modify and shape the ad
ministration of Government as best to secure
the inalienable rights of each and of every in
dividual.
1t is with emotions of gratitude to God, anc
profound respect for the memory of those WHIT
established our Republic, that we refer to thu
period when, at the very font of our nat;ona