The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-03-21
ASHLAND. ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO. WEDNESDAY morn
SPEECH OF HON L CHANDLER BALL


A friend in the north part of this Count
= sends us the following Speech of the Hon. L
CHANDLER BALL, at the late Union meetin,
in Troy, N. Y, and remarks that it ssexpresse
s his sentiments" and he should be happy to se
!. it in the Union. We take pleasure in graft
d flying him. Judge BALL spoke as follows:
!, No person who loves his country, and de
n sires to perpetuate the political institution:
which our fathers established can look upon the
preseit aspect of public affairs without feelings
of anxiety and alarm-and no person who de
sires the abolition of slavery, and has labored
: TO produce that result, ought to look upon the
present condition of the country without the
. deepest feelings of shame and self. condemns
tion i65
!, For more than thirty years few northern
men have endeavored by all the means in their
power, to effect the emancipation of the slave
For this purpose they have used the press, the
pulpit, he lecture room, and the halls of leg
islation. In. the character of merchants and
II anufactures, in the guise of teachers, and
under the garb of religion, a handful of men,
insignificant in numbers, harmless as exponents
of public opinion, and only formidableby their
powers for mischief, have entered the homes of
our Southern brethren TO distribute abolition
tracts, to tamper with the negro, and incite
the slaves to insurrection and murder. Even
the name and of love has been profaned and
desecrated, and the rosy God invoked to direct
the assassin's knife, and light the torch of the
incendiary. aau
' In the prosecution OF their designs, these
men have excited feelings of hatred and hos
tility between different sections of the country
and made enemies of men whose fathers fought
side by side, the battles OF the revolution, and
mingled their blood to cement the foundations
of the Republic. They have lowered the STAN
dard of morality by violating the Constitution
and disregarding the laws of the United States;
they have jeoparded the existence OF the Union,
and made the failure of liberal institutions and
republican government, possible; they have
interrupted useful Legislation, sacrificed the
industrial interests of the country, and utterly
| ignored the existence Cf twenty FIVE millions
of white people who form to-day the vanguard
in the worlds army of civilization. ZAP
lltuse.) They have increased the hazards of
trade, and lessene the profits of labor; in a
word. they have disturbed those relations of
amity and good will, upon the preservation OF
which the prosperity of the nation and the
HOPES of the philanthropist are based. They
have also, by indiscreet zeal, by oficious, i'm
pertinent and wicked interference with slavery
| where it exists by virtue of the Cunstitu; ion.
injured the cause they profess to love. They
have arrested Southern plans for the emancipa-
tion of the negro, and made the abolition of
slavery for many generations impossible. (Ap-
plause.) They have compelled the master 10
exercise a more rigid surveillance Cf the slave,
and tighten the reins of authority. l lived six
y at the South, and 1 know that of Which
L speak; know the sensitiveness of the South
on this subject; know the effect produced on
the people by this interference; and don't
blame item for arresting and examining
thern men, when so many pedlars, drummers,
| book agents. teachers and ministers are abo
/ t onists in disguise. (Applause) 1t is not
wit bout cause, that the South has been brought
| to look upon the horrible features, anu to the
| disastrous consequences of disunion. The fact
is, the South has been goaded to desperation
by the ceascless clamor of the abolitionists, by
the invasion of its territory and the murder OF
its unotfending citizens Now what have the
abolitionists accomplished by way of practical
EN- ncipation an offset to these fearful evils?
Why they have succeeded in transferring a few
hundred negroes from the genial Climate and
| comfortable homes of the South to live by pet
ty larceny amid the SHOWS OF Canada, (appause
and lighter or starve upon the barren crests
OF the Adirondacks.
This is the sum total on the credit side of
the account. (Applause.) Is it not time then
for anti-slavery men to pause, and enquire
whether this business pays? (Applause. y
Whether the American people can afford to IN
vest SO largely, and run such tremendous risks
when the dividends are so small (Appause) }
Is it not time for the people of all parties, and
of no party, to rebuke and denounce this dan
eerous and wicked interference with the rights
of our fellow citizens?
1t is asked why these Union meetings do not
denounce Southern aggressions, and rebuke
Southern disunionists. l answer, simply be-
cause these meetings are net called for that
purpose. (Applause.) "How wilt thou say
to thy brother, let me pull the mote out of
tn ne eye; and behold beam is in thine own
eye" Weare not here to denounce the South
We are here tonight to perform solemn sac
riice to the Union. He who brings gift; to
the altar should present himself with clean
hands and pure heart, so that when the wood
is laid aud the offering ready, celestial fire will
consume, and liberty accept the sacrifice. Gap
plause.) Admit if you please, what none here
will deny, that slavery is an evil Leave it, in |
the name OF justice and good fellowship; leave
it to be dealt with by those who are obliged to
bear its burdens, and who alone have the right
to regulate and control it. applause and |
cries of "GoodP' "Good!') The Southern
people of this generation are not responsible
for the existence of slavery-they have no
choice in tie matter-the slaves are there and |
in some States cannot be emAncipated by their
owners, without first providing for their sup
port, and giving security for their good behav-
lOr Inc slaves arc there 100, Dy an act ID |
which our ancestors freely and voluntarily par
ticipated, and shared in the gains of the traffic
And if slave labor had been
profitable at the North, the ships that were sent
to Virginia and Carolina would have landed
their human freight upon the wharfs at Bos-
ton, and Massachusetts, and New York would
be slave States to-day, and Wendell Phillips
make the arches of Faneuil Hall ring with de-
nunciations upon the aboltionists. BY no
higher philanthropy, by no superior virtue are
we exempt from the evilsof slavery-snow and
ice and granite have done for US what the hu- '
man heart and conscience could not do; and
will not do for others 'tilltouched by Almighty
power, and melted in the fires Of redeeming ]
love.
We have no right to interfere with slavery 4
at tie South. (APplause) 1t is none of our