Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-06-29


Ii classical literature, where o thing taScs its
name from something which Il has not, as the
dreadful Fates were called mercifuI because
they were without mercy. And pardon the
alusion, II add, that listening to these
sounding words for slavery, am reminded Of
the kindred extravaganza related by that re-
markable traveller in China, the late Able
Hue, Of gloomy hole in which he was lodged,
pestered by mosquitoes and exhaling moi
some vapors, where light and air entered on
ly by a single narrow aperture, but styled
by Chinese pride the Hotel Of the Beati-
tudes.
Il is natural that Senators thus insensible
TO the true character Of Slavery, should
eyince an equal insensibility 10 the true char
aoter OF the Constitution. This is shown in
the claim now made, and pressed with un-
precedented energy, degrading the work Of
our fathers, that by virtue Of the COnstitu-
ton, the pretended property in man is placed
beyOnd the reach Of Congressional prohibi-
ton even within Congressional jurisdiction,
so that the Slave-master may at all times en-
ter the broad outlying Territories of the
Union with the victims of his oppression,
and thero continue to hold III en- by lash and
| chain.
Such are the two assumptions, the first an
assumption Of fact and the second an assump-
/ ton Of constitutional law, which are now
made without apology or hesitation. meet
them both. To the first ! oppose the essen
tial Barbarism Of Slavery, in all its influences
| whether high or low, as Satan is Satan still,
whether towering in the sky or squatting in
the toad. To the second l oppose the unan-
/ swerable irresistible truth, that the Consti-
tuition of the United States nowhere recogni-
'zes property in man. These two assumptions
naturally go together. They are "twins'
suekled by the same wolf They are the
''couple' in the present slave hunt And
the latter cannot be answered without expos
ing the former. It is only when Slavery is
exhibited in its truly hateful character, that
we can fully appreciate the absurdity Of the
/ assumption, which, in defiance Of the express
letter of the Constitution, and without a sin
gle sentence, phrase or word, upholding hu-
man bondage, yet fcists into this blameless
text the barbarous idea that man can hold
property in man.
On former occasions, have discussed sla-
very only incidentally; as, in unfolding the
principle that Slavery is sectional and Free
dom national; in exposing the uncOnstitutOn-
ality of the Fugitive Slave bill; in vindicat-
ing the Prohibition Of Slavery in the Missouri
Territory; in exhibiting the imbecility
throughout the Revolution of the Slave
States, and especially of South Carolina, and
lastly, in unmasking the crime against Kan
sas On all these occasions, where | have
spoken at length, have said too little Ofthe
character of Slavery, partly because other
topics were presented, and partly from a dis
inclination which have always felt to press
the argument against those whom knew to
have all the sensitiveness of n sick man.
But God be praised, this time has passed, and
the debate is now lifted from details to prin-
ciples. Grander debate has not occurred in
our history, rarely in any history; nor can
this debate close or subside except with the
triumph Of Freedom.
FIRST AssUMPTIoN.-0f course | begin with
the assumption of fact
1t was the often-quOted remark Of John
Wesley, who knew well how to use words, as
also how to touch hearts, that Slavery was
" the sum of all villanies." The phrase is
pungent; but il would be rash in any of us to
criticize the testimony Of that illustriOus
founder Of Methodism, whose ample experience
of Slavery in Georgia and the Carolinas seems
to have been all condensed in this ssntentious
judgment. Language is feeble to express all
the enormity of this institution, which is now
vaunted as in itself form of civilization,
"ennobling' at least to the master, it not to
the slave Look at it in whatever light you
viii, and it is always the scab, the canker,
the barebones," and the shame OF the
country; wrong, not merely in the abstract,
as is often admitted by its apologists, but
wrong in the concrete also, and possessing no I
single element of right. Look at it in the I
light of principles, and it is nothing less than
a huge insurrection against the eternal law
OF God, involving in its pretensions the denial /
Of all human rights, and also the denial of
that Divine Law in which God himself is /
manifest, thus being practically the grossest /
Ne and the go5sest Atheism. Founded in 4
Violence, sustained only ny viaIanca. e.,-r-
wrong must by sure law of compensation
blast the master as well as the slave; blast .
the lands on which they live; blast the COM
munity of which they are a part; blast the |
Government which does not forbid the out
rage; and the longer it exists and the more ,
it prevails, must its blasting in
fuences penetrate the whole social system
Barbarous in origin; barbarous in its law; |
barbarous in all its pretensions barbarous in .
the instruments it employs; barbarOus IN con
sequences; barbarOus in spirit; barbarOus
wherever it shows itself, Slavery must breed
Barbarians, while it develops everywhere
alike in the individual, and in the society of
which he forms part, the essential elements
of Barbarism In this character it is now
before the world.
In undertaking now to expose the BAR
BARIsM of SLAVERY, the whole broad field is
open before me- There is nothing in its
character, its manifold wrong its wretched
results, and especially in its influence on the
class who claim TO be "ennobled by it, that
will not fall naturally under consideration.
know well the difficulty of this discussion
involved in the humiliating Truth with which
begin. Senators on former occasions
revealing their sensibility, have even protested
against any comparison between what were
called the two Civilizations meaning the
two social systems produced respectively by
Freedom and by Slavery. The sensibility
and the protest are not unnatural, though
"Two civilizations r. Sir, in the
century of Christian light there
can be but one civilization, and this is where
Freedom prevails. Between Slavery and
there is an essential incOmpati-
bility. Ifyou are for the one, you cannot be
for the other; and just in proportion to the
embrace ofSlaYery is the divorce from Civ
ilization. That slave-masters should be
when this is exposed, might be
expected. But the assumptions now so boast
fully made, while they may not prevent the
yet surely exclude all ground
Of protest when these assumptions are
exposed.
Nor is this the only difficulty. Slavery is
4 bloody TOuch-me-not, and everywhere in
sight now blooms the bloody flower. 1t is
On the wayside as we approach the national
capital; it is on the marble steps which we
mount; it faunts on this floor. stand now
in the house of its friends. About me while
| speak are its most sensitive guardians, who
have shown in the past how much they are
ready either to do or not TO do where Slavery
is in question. Menaces to deter me have
not been spared. But should i'll deserve this
high post Of duty here, with which / have
haar, hovorad kVr q rry1-r1rts und onIirrhfapad ]