Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-03-13

standing all its constitutional checks. cannot
long resist and countcract the progress of soci-
ETY.. Slavery, wherever and Whenever, and in
whatsoever form it exists, is exceptional, local
and short-livcd. Freedom is the common right,
interest and ultimate destiny of all mankind
All other nations have already abolished, or are
about abolishng slavery. Does this fact mean
nothingp An parties in this country that have
tolerated the extension of Slavery, except one,
have persisted for that error already. That last
one--thc Democratic party--is hurrying on, ir-
retrievably, toward the same fate All Admin
istrations that have avowed this policy have gone
down dishonortd for that cause, except the pre-
sent one A pit deeper and darker still is OPP
ening to receive this Administration, because it
sins more deeply than its predecessors. There
is meaning in all these facts, which it becomes
us to study we'll
The nation has advanced another stage; il
has rcachad the point where Intervention, by the
government. for slavery and slave States, will
no longer be tolerated. Free Labor has at last
apprehended its rights, its interests, its power,
and its destiny, and is organizing itself to as
sumo the government of the Republic. 1t will
hcnceforth meet you boldly and resolutely here;
it will meet you everywhere in the Territories
or out OF them, where you may go to extend sla-
very. 1t has driven you back in California and
II
Maryland, Virginia. Missouri and Texas 1t
will meet you in Arizona. in Central America,
and even in Cuba. The invasion will be not
merely harmless, but bcncfcicnt if YOU Weld
ScaSonably to its just and moderate demands
1t proved so in New York, New Jersey, Penn
sylyania, and the other slave States, which have
already Yielded in that way to il, advances
You may, indeed, get a start under or near the
Tropics. and seem safe for a time but il will on
" be a short time. Even there, YOU will found
States only for Free Labor to maintain and oc-
cupy The interest of the white races demands
the ultimate emancipation Of all men
Whether that contamination shall be allowed
to take effect, with needful and wise precautions
against sudden change and disaster or be hur-
ried on by violence, is all that remains for you
to decide For the failure of your system Of
Slave labor throughout the Republic, the re-
/ sponsibllity will rest not on the agitators YOU
condemn. nor the political parties you arraign,
nor even altogether on yourselves. but it will be
due to the inherent error of the system itself,
and to the error which thrustS il forward TO OPP
pose and resist the destiny. not more Of the At
rican than that of the white races. The white
man needs this continent 10 labor upon His
head is clear, his arm is strong, and his necess-
tiles are fixed. lie must and will have it. To
secure it, he will oblige the government Of the
United States to abandon Intervention in favor
of Slave labor and Slave States, and 20 back
ward forty years, and resume the original poll
CIV of intervention in favor of Free Labor and
Free States.
The fall Of the castle of San Juan dUlloa de-
tcrmincd the fate of Mexico, although more Sic
ges and severe pitched battles interN ened before
the capture of the Aztccs. The defeats YOU
have encountered in California and in Kansas
determine the fate of the principle for which you
II - f,rt- AM
not for US, to decide how long and through what
further modification and disasters the contest
shall be protracted before freedom shall enjoy
her already assured triumph. would have it
ended now. and would have the wounds Of soci-
ETY. bound up and healed. But this can be done
ONLY in one way. 1t cannot be done by offering
further resistance, nor by any evasion or partial
surrender, nor by forcing Kansas into the I'm
ion slave State against her will, leaving her
will leaving her to cast off slavery afterward, as
she best may; nor by compelling Minnesota and
Oregon to wait, and wear the humihating COS
tune of Territories at the doors of Congress,
until the people of Kansas, or their true defend
ers here shall be brought to di>honorable COM
promises. 1t can be done only by the simple
and direct admission of the three new States as
Free States, without qualification condition,
reservation or compromise, and by the abandon
ment of all further attempts to extend slavery
under the Federal Constitution.
I iou nave unwisely pushed the controversy so
lar that only those broad concessions will now
be accepted by the interest of Free Labor and
Free States For myself, see this fact. per
haps. the more distinctly now because have so
long forcSeen it. | can therefore counsel moth
ing less than those concessions. | know the
hazards incur in taking this position know
how men and parties, now earnest and Jealous
and bold. may fall away from me, as the contro-
Nersy shall wax warm, and alarms and dangers.
now unlocked for, shall stare them in the face
as men and parties equally earnest. bold. and
jealous, have done, in like circumstances before
But It is the same position took in the case of
California, eight years ago. II is the same
maintained on the great occasion of the organi
zation of Kansas and Nebraska, four wears ago.
lime and added experience have indicated it
since, and | assume it again, to be maintained
to the last, with confidence that it will be iusti
ned, ultimately by the country and BY the civil
hzed world. You may refuse to Weld to it now.
and for short period, but your refusal will on
~ animate the friends of Freedom with the
courage and the resolution, and produce the un-
ION among them, which alone are necessary on
their part to attain the position itself simultane
ously with the impending overthrow of the ex
! listing Federal Administration and the constitu-
ton OF new and more independent Congress"