Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-04-02
THE PERSONAL LIBERTY BILL.

THE PERSONAL LIBERTY BILL,
All the pro-slavcry conservatives and some
cey polite Republicans were much opposed to
the personal liberty bill; the former because
they have devoted themselves to the guardian
ship Of slavery, and the latter because they
thought it would hurt the party" You cam
not reason with pro-slavery conservatives;
they understand cursing better than reasoning,
and call yon hard names when you ask for ar
guments. "Ephram is Joined to his idols;
let him alone" Time which overcometh all
things will remove the defences of slavery,
break the stubborn neck of this ugly conserva-
tism, and sweep away all the respectable sup
porters of kidnapping and human chattelism.
The Future will be better than the Past; and
in the clear brightness and higher humanity of
the future, slavery will be thought of only as
lost barbarism, which while it lasted, and
especially when fighting its last battle for ex-
istence, gave rise to some very monstrous fash
ions of human nature and developments of the
human intellect. All the relics of it will be
studied, then, as we study the fossil remains
of antediluvian monsters; and the carefully
preserved remains of these pro-savery conser-
vatives, who defend slavery with such emf
nent gravity and invincible dullness, will be
the topic of many lesson and lecture.
That any Republican should oppose the per-
sonal liberty bill, especially that form of it
proposed by Mr.. Griffin, is to be regretted;
and it is still more to be regretted that any Re-
publican should be so weak and cowardly as
10 suppose the party can be "hurt by man.
ly and downright opposition to the slave-pow-
err Nothing can hurt us SO much as cow
ardly cringing before that black and arrogant
institution, and skulking from the position of
manly action against it under all circumstan-
ces. Even the stakeholder, who is also man
with mans estimate of character, can not
fail to despise the silly paltroon who gets upon
his knees, eats his own principles, and humbly
begs his pardon. Slavery never begs pardon,
never cringes or skulks; never appears to be
ashamed of itself; never allows its throat to be
cut by any fear of hurting its party. 1t always
declares itself without fear or favor and steers
right onward to its aim, defying right law,
constitution, and whatever else may stand
in its way. Its audaeity is matchless and al
most magnificent; and therefore it rules the
country, revives the slave trade, and teaches
that nothing is so patriotic as kidnapping.
And there are divers leading men and follow
ing men in the Republican party, who allow
themselves to believe that this lordly and most
audacious power can be overcome by cringing
to its rufhanism, and by being ashamed and
afraid of sincere and consistent opposition to
its outrages. They say it will not do to be so
sternly in earnest against it; they insist that
we must be very soft and civil when it curses
and crashes its teeth-that we must do moth
ing to make it howl and foam at the mouth
that to soothe its RACES and win it to something
of the mood of jollity, we must from time to
time be very severe against all the anti-slavery
radicals and the assurance is, that if we are
very careful in all these particulars, the Repub-
lican party will become very strong, and carry
the next Presidential election
1t seems to us very important that all
should understand clearly that the success of
the Republican party without success of Re-
publican principles, is nowise desirable On
the contrary it would be calamity for it
would debauch and destroy the organization,
and fling away both the means and the hope
of such triumph as we ought to seek. If
the slave power must continue to rule the gen.
eral government and deal with all us our right
full lord and master, let it do so by means of the
instruments it has already subdued and fash
ion to its purpose. Let the waste of manhood
be as small as possible. The old instruments
will serve well enough, until the people are
ready to overthrow that power and transfer the
government to hands that will make 1T truly
free; and, meanwhile, instead Of being indus
trious to show what will "hurt the party" let
us all seek to heighten its moral power and ad-
vance its protested aims
The people of Massachusetts, do not believe
in that impudent, arrogant, unconstitutional
rascaiity, the Fugitive Slave Act; they never
will believe in it; and the action of the Legis-
lature on the personal liberty bill does not rep
resent the popular thought and feeling. Our
people do not mean to tolerate man-hunting
1t cannot become an established custom here.
One or two more Burns cases would transform
most of the conservatives of Boston into radi-
cal anti-slayery men. With all their conserva-
tism, they do not mean to be slave hunters and
kidnappers and it does not please them to see
Boston put in state of siege in order that one
poor fellow may be caught and carried off by
slavery, and that, too, not so much to recovera
slave as to insult Massachusetts None of us
mean to reverence and glorify the Fugitive Slave
Act. We despise it, scorn it, spurn it. And
If we would have the respect, even Of the loud
est supporters Of slavery, let us truly respect
ourselves and be manly enough to say precise
~ what we mean, and maintain it consistent
ly on all occasions
Mr.. SIcKLEs' SEAT IN CoNGREss.-The
District represented by Mr.. Sickles is local