The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-07-22
WASHINGTON, D. c..
HUMAN BEINGS NOT PROPERTY.
SPEECH OF HON. OWEN l0VEJ0y,
OF ILLINOIS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY IL, 1853.

upon the CONSIDERATION OF the suDJec
which is to be the principal theme Of
discussion, | desire to submit few pre-.
liminary remarks as to the real nature
OF the contest In which we are engaged.
TO my apprehension, it is greatly desl-
rable that we have distinct and we'll
defined understanding of the conflict
for conflict it is-in which We are en-
gagged, of the principles involved, and OF
the parties arrayed.
1t is not, then, let me say, conflict
between the North and the SOuth-a
sectional strife between two portions of
the country. | deem it unfortunate that
the terms North and South are so fire.
quently employed to designate the oppo-
sing forces in this contest. What is
there to array the North against the
South, or the South against the North ?
Nothing so far as can see, absolutely
nothing. Is there any competition be-
tween the products of these two portions
Of our common country? Do the maize,
wheat, and sorghum, of the North, envy
the rice, cotton, and cane, of the South
On the other hand, the territorial extent
Of our country, the variety of its pro-
auctions, and the range of its climate,
are, if left to their natural operation,
elements of strength, union, prosperity,
and harmony. This complicated yet
concordant unity is happily expressed
in language employed for that purpose
by one who has passed away:
Not chaos-like together crushed bruised
But like the world tremendously confused,
Where order in variety we see;
And where, though all things differ, all agree"
If there is anything in the land that
would destroy or even weaken this mys-
tic, yet potent agency, that binds us
together as Confederacy, and which
would hurl us in disjointed fragments
into ruin and chaos, let it be brought to
the altar of patriotism and slain.
What, then, is the source of this moral
strife, which at times wears an aspect SO
threatening and terrific ? The source of
the calamities which befel the Grecians
in the Trojan war is recited in the open
ing lines of the Had:
" Achilles's wrath, TO Greece the direful spring
of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess, sing"
What Achiles's wrath was to Greece,
Slavery is to our own countryside pro-
life spring of woes unnumbered. Not
the discussion, not the agitation of the
subject Of Slavery, but the existence Of
Slavery itself. The conflict, then, is not
between the North and the South, but
lotu-oa,, L'roola,,, ond Slo,,o,, lo+xoo..
the principles of liberty and those Of des-
potism. The free States Il speak it with
shame) have advocates of Slavery extern
sion; the slave States Il mention it with
joy) have many hearts that are loyal to
Freedom, and these liege mem will be
greatly multiplied ere many years roll
away. venture the prediction. The great
mistake has been in identifying the South
with Slavery and slaveholding-in using
the words as convertible terms. There
is class who advocate the rightfulness,
perpetuity, and nationality of Slavery,
who seem to think that they are the
South. Any attack on Slavery, with its
nameless wrongs and pollutions and
usurpations, is construed into an assault
on the South, and is called sectionalism.
But supposlng Slavery were not, would
there not still be South Would not
ITS rivers flow, its forests wave, and it's
soil and mines yield their annual and
accustomed tribute? What if the class
indicated-a class infnitesimal as com
pared with the population of the entire
Union, and numerically insignificant as
compared with the whole population of
the South-what, | say, if this entire
class should be annihilated by a single
blow of that slumbering Justice at whose
anticipated Weakening Jefferson trem-
bled; or be found, on some morning,
heaps Of slain, like the hosts of Sennach
crib, pallid in their couch like the first
born of Egypt, or buried like the horse
men of Pharoah, beneath the avenging
wave : would there not still be South ?
What if the earth should open and
swallow master and slave together
would there not be a class left, more
than equal In numbers to that of both
the others, to wit: the non-slaveholders
of the slave States, who, if freed from
the presence and blight of Slavery, would
divide the Territory into small freeholds.
and commence a process of recuperation
that would ultimately bring back the
South to its original position, and make
it the pride and glory of the whole land
Or-what is really desirable, and con
templating the only peaceful and blood
less and just exodus which can see fol
the slave, and the only proper cessation
of this conhict-supposing the present
dominant class in the slave States, look
ing at this subject in the light of history,
In the light of the inevitable workings
and final triumphs of free principles,
elevating themselves above the political
expedients and shifts of day, and
taking broad, humane, and patriotic
views of this subject, should, by some
wise process, rid themselves of this
malign system: would there not still b,
a South-a South jubilant, country
joyous, a world glad, and Heaven Itself
clothed in benignant smiles of approba,
ton
Then would be fulfilled that Divine
injunction craven on the bell that used
In olden times, to summon the father.
TO their deliberations in independence,
Hall" Proclaim liberty throughout tn,
land, to all the inhabitants thereof
What an opportunity is here present
ed to the true heroic men of the South
an opportunity that never occurs bu
once during the lifetime of an individ
uali and but seldom in the cycles of gen