Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-10-20

wv w ANu nNHA Ihh
Of life he drew in the inspiration Of a stern Puri-
tan faith, and Us he advanced to manhood he
learned to admire and to practice both portions Of
tho old C~romweliiau charge-"Trust in God and
keep your powder dry." From the testimony of
those who best knew him, his knowledge Of the
Bible was remarkably accurate and full. He
must have been a frequent reader Of its pages, and
the lessons Of humanity, Of love tc his fellow men,
OF sympathy for the oppressed which he there
learned, we're reproduced in the actions of bis dali.
ly life, and became necessary TO his very existence.
lie identified himself in sympathy with the man
who had fallen among thieves, and was willing to
take his rari both here and hereafter With the inf.
del Samaritan, rather than with The hypocritical
teachers OF religion who passed by OH the other
side. The terrible denunciations Of God against
oppression as spoken by Jeremiah, and Isniah and
other prophets Of those days, must, methinks, have
in the bosom Of the old man a resi- On
sive thrill, moving his soul as tho shfill voice of
the trumpet sounding a charge to battle. The Bi.
ble and the Declaration Independence we're his
guide. In the former. be found enjoinel his duty
to his fellou-men aud in the latter, he read the
enumeration Of their natural and political rights.
MoNITIoNs OF DUTY.
lie looked over the vast extent Of this nations
territory. and beheld, pining upon its soil. chain
ed, crushed. chatteliEed, millions Of human souls !;
and in the features and form Of each, be r~ecogniz-
cd the image Of Jehovah, marred end defaced
though it was. The language Of Jesus spread like
a mantle over his spirit-"All things whatsoever
ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even
SO to ;hem." and the path Of duty was clear to his
mind. lie believed himself appointed Of God to
labor for the captives' dcliverance; and so is every
hther soul appointed by God to this work, but
they believe it not, or believing it, sin many Of
them against the light. His efforts for their re-
demption were constant in season, and out Of sea-
suE, and attended with various successes until they
eliminated in the grand blow which ho struck at
~Ilarper's Ferry for God and Liberty.
A TREAsoNABLE ACT.
Was that act iustifsblei Was it eommondable ?
Tbese are the questions, by the answers to which,
prOstority will measure the infamy or the honor il
awards John Brown. l do not mean to inquire
whether it was abstractlS justifaLls as regarded
in the light of pacific Quakerism, or tested by the
yet more peaceful doctrines Of the Non resistant
But admitting-a this nation does-the abstract
right Of employing wArlikc means, then ! inquire,
Vas John BrotCn JustifaJle IN the deed he did al
Harper'S Ferry?
freely grant that il was treason, as treason lie
legally defned-treason to the Federal govern
ment, and to the government Of Virginia. And
further grant, that in the prosecution of his design
blood WAS spilled. and life was taken by him and
his company in self-defence. And for all this, the
Declaration Of American Independence is John
Browns warrant. While that stands as the &C.
kno Wledged charter Of political liberty ia this
land, its every line declares an acquital Of John
Brown, and a reversal of the decision of the Vir
GINA Court. Christian, in his Pilgrimage to the
Celestial City, did not aim more closely to eonfne
bis steps to the path traced upon the chart he re-
ceived for his guidance, than did John Brown con.
fol m TO the principles of the Declaration OF indie
pendence. lie had studied the document we'll, and
com pretended all therein contained. He had
learned from it-or at least it's teachings had con
frmed his ~intui,ive knowledge-thas no govern,
ment was just thA: oppressed man. That no mat
ter what name il assumed, or what pretensions i
made, If il failed to secure to the inhabitants upoI
its poil their "righ. to life, liberty, and the pursui
of happiness" it wac unworthy 80 be sustained
and if it denied these, it was E dsSpotism, ant
ought TO be 0verthrown.
WAITING.
He there further learned that Prudence forbad'
hasty action. So The young man,-fcr no va
then young, who had consecrn,ed himself to tn,
cause of freedom, waited. Waired-until an en-
tire generation of slaves had passed from exist
ance with their letters unbroken and their wrong
unredressed, and their places had been supplied
by IA far more numerous multitude; waited = unit
slavery had lengthSued its cords and strengthened
it's stakes, ana spread its presence and its powe
over a vast empire waited until the safeguard
If northern rights we're broken down, and dsspO,
ism came in like a food upon the people; waite
until the political parties Of the land had becom
utterly corrupt by their alliance with slavery
waitsd-un,ii,i INSTEAD Of Southern pulpits dsnounC
ing slavery, Northern pulpits we're apologiEing fol
and defending it waited-until slavery had fire
his dwelling in Kansas, and murdered his ohildre
there. And then, the young man, rho had not
become an old man, went to Virginia and struc
the blow which marked him as u traitor.
JUsTIFIED BY TEE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
But what rays the Declaration of Independence
in reg ard to such action
"WbeD n long train Of abuses and usurpation
pursuing invariably the same object eVinces a de
sign TO reduce men under absolute despotism, il j
their right, i; lie their DUTY to shrow of such gov
eminent. and to provide new guards for their fu
ture security"
just what John Brown did. or attempted to dc
On every 4Ih of July for the thirty years he ha
been wairipg and hoping fer a change for the bel
ter. the nation reiterated this truth by the lip
of its most gifted orators. and amid the psals c
m~usks;ry aud the roar Of cannon The multitud
shouted their approving huzEss. And 1he GO
, esumenJ Of Virginia sentenced John Brown to /
hung for ~a!temptip whG, the nation told him h
not only had hi TO d~O,-implying that b
might do IT, or leave il undone, AZ his judgmer
dictated but what it further affirmed it was h