The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-12-31
pRoonrs. OF rREEpoM-yo. i.

0SSlN I1IuCA ivan oOosAs ASo q
self evident truth TINT JEFFERSON "nnounc
ed, and barcfooted and half clad soldier,
fought to sustain and perpetuase-the equal
ity of man. The most prominent dlstin
gushing trait of our National character, ii
our sympathy for the oppressed, OF "hatev
or cline, or of whatever race; hence, what
ever is opposed to this universal sentiment
must, of necessity, be overthrown or aband
oned. The growth Of hostility to Slavery
and the war which freemen are now waglnl
against it, is a truthful evidence of this
proposition. r.
When the war-cry was first raised against
slavery, how few there were throughout the
vast extent Of the North, that responded to
it's buglo notes; but, as the sound echoed
from State to State, it found few re-
sponsss, decided in their opposition, and
equally firm in their expression Of opposition
to slavery, and ready to carry out to their
legitimate results the principles of human
right, so far as they saw their applications;
and from that day to this, they have not,
for one moment, bated one jot of heart or
hope, in tho ultimate downfall of Slavery,
and in the triumph Of Universal Freedom.
The few that commenced the great anti
slavery struggle tina: are still lingering in
our midst, rejoice that their early faith finds
confirmation strong as proof Of Holy Writ,
in the signs which God is every where max
iug plain to the blindest vision, and which
his providences are interpreting in language
Ineligible to the dullest comprehension,
that Slavery, the great antagonism OF hui
man rights, is doomed to destruction.
In one day, over 100000 human beings,
in the West India Islands, were raised up
from chattehood to manhood, aud trans
formed, by the power Of one vitalzing idea,
from things to men. We simply alludc to
this fact rs a single instance of the tri-
umph Of principle over gigantic wrong, hal
lowed by time, fortified by self-interest, and
defended by the most powerful! missionaries
in the Church and State, rs n memento and
visible token of Gods espousal to the cause
Of elevating man, and as a pledge of the
great deiverence in store for the oppressed
of this highly favored land-and for the
enslaved and oppressed the world over
That auspicious opening OF the campaign
against oppressicn-the frat victory of
emancipation in this Western hemisphere
was but the harbingcr of that good time
coming. That successful experiment oil e-
gal and peaceful! emancipation, stands out
rs fixed fact in the worlds history, and
as q standing rsfutation of al false proph-
ecies, doleful croakinss, and mock lamensa-
tons Of sham patriots, military guarded
politicians and relisionists for the last gen.
errtion. The question then, of the safety
and e1pedicncy OF emancipation, is no long
er theorcm to be proved, or problem to
be solved. 1t is demonstrated beyond the
contradiction of all doubters and disbeliev-
ers in the doctrine, that man was made for
freedom, and capacitated for self govern
mens. The herald voice from the bright
Antilles, that comes booming over the Wa
ters proclaims liberty Throughout. all the land
to all the inhabitants Observation-Disclosures
respond to the sentiment, and the slave
holder starts up affrishted, and rela1es his
grasp on the bondsman-thc slave leaps for
JOY in his chains the friends of free
dom thank God and take courage, and
ars inspired with fresh hope and new
strength to again renew the conflict, and 60
on from conquest to conquest, till tie last
battle is fought, and the FINAL victory ushers
in the day Of the great jubilee, proc!oiming
US nation of freemcn, and e7idcnc.ng to
the world our devotion to the great prnci-
Piles upon which Americanism is based, ha-
tired to oppression and recognition Of the
universal brotherhood Of man.
The first antislavery society Of the North
was organized at Hartford, CT, in the year
1888. The call upon which tina. convention
met, had but few siSners. Even in old
Connecticut, not single church or public
building could be obtained for the conycn-
ton, and it was obliged to hold its session
on the green .ward beneath GODS own can
opy. The opposition, not content with clos
ing the door, Of every sanctuary against
them, followed them to their quiet retreat,
greeting them with violence-the first Anti
Slavery Society had its birth in the midst
of mob. Societies rapidly sprang up in
most of the Northern States, but every where
they m ct with the most determined hostility.
MODS were excited, Lynch law was enforced,
indignation meetings were held in numerous
cities, ut the call of the public authorities, to
prevent tho establishment Of Anti Slavery
societies, and to express sympathy with
mobs who robbed the post Office and made
a bonfire of its contents, at midday in the
streets of Charleston. Black acts were
passed by New England State Legislatures,
colored men were imprisoned, and their
houses burned, for teaching free colored
children to read. Two meeting houses were
burned to the ground for having been des.
ecrated BY abolition lecturers.
The General Associations, composed of
Reverend Ministers, passed with great unan-
unity resolutions forbidding anti-s|avery
agents, who were ministers, to participate
10 their proceedings, and many were ex-
PEELED from their pulpits and their church
es. Ministers, all over the North, of every
persuasion, were forbidden to agtate the
Slavery question or attend anti slavery
meetings, on pain Of being silenced and de-
posed from the ministry. Lecturers were
mobbed, printing. Offices destroyed, and ed.
itors murdered. But, it is unnecessary to
recite in detail, the sad history, the misdi'
rected opposition, of those days when the
name of abohsionlss was synonymous will
fanatic, incendiary, cut-throat, and every
opprobrious epithe. in the vocabulary o.
Billingsgate. The church and ministry op
posed them, politicians denounced them, thu
press maligned them, and the people, ped
dlers of yankee notions mobbed them, ant