The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-08-02

seyles as resting upon the consent OF the gov
erned. and securing all the inalienahle rights
of man The corner stone Of onr Republic j.
rock based upon these, and the ocean-washed
gates of American democracy blaze with the
words. forever new, "All men are created
equal: they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights among these
are life, liberty and the pursuit OF happiness
To secure tt ese rights, governments are insti-
tuted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed" In dis
tinct recognition of these priinordial aNioms
the Federal Constitution, in its majestic pre-
amble, announces that the people oftae United
States ordan it TO secure the blessings OF lib
erty for themselves and their posterity.
:. Ii must be confessed. that we have not
consistently practised our own principles
The absolute rights OF man, such as personal
security, life, liberty and property, are enjoyed
by much the greater part of our people, but
not by all for about four millions OF lnno-
cent men and women of African descent are
forcibly deprived OF all liberty and property
and of nearly all personal security. Political
rights, that is, those which attach to as as
members of civil society, are or may be en-
| loved by all white men, bat not by women
or by men of color wonder if our highly
civilized posterty, two or three centuries
hereafter, viii ever marvel that, in tue days
when Victoria was Queen and Liberia first
I aourishcd, we should put our bootblacks and
our mothers on the same constitutional level
and persist in political disabilities upon the
/ sex of Florence Nightingale and the complex
I ion of Alexander Dumas.
/ "PubHc opinion built the tower of Babel
wandered from tue foot Of Sinai to worship
arons golden calf swclled the rebellion OF
/ Absalom, ostracizcd ArstideS, poisoned Soc
rates and crucifed Jesus. 1t hurried away
/ the chiyalry of the middle ages to the Cru
sades, restored the Stuarts to England and
! the Bourbons to France. It assaSs!nated the
pensionary De Witt guillotined the Girondins,
excited the Lord Gordon riots hung the Sa-
/ lem witches, burnt Pennsylvania Hall and
4 Saint Augustine's chul ch, defeated the Henry
/ Clay when it now canOnizes, acquitted Daniel
/ T. Sickes, and maintains thc.yast circulation
of Tie Afv York Herald Public opinion
abhorred Faust as in league with the devil
/ tapplauded the imprisonment of Calico, al
1 allowed Fulton to die beggar, and howlcd
for years at Clarkson and WiIbcrtorce.
:. But all this brave!y changes. Public
opinion never fails in due time tc cash from
! their shrines all its false gods. 1t has long
ago dispensed with crosses, sca6olds and
dungeons As it grows refined it scouts these
course appliances. Itnow clamors. or laughs,
or spcers, Or gives you the cut, or votes You
down. Its most efficient engine is the Peri
odical Press. When th,S is seryiie or yenaL
or blind-unabIe or unwilling to publish ihe
truth, and defend the right, and rebuke the
! folly Of the hour, it spreads and strengthens
/ the errors and wrongs to which it defers -
The Press is the cherubim's flaming sword,
turning every way to illumine and guard the
way tf life. Falsehood often essays to seize
and WELD it. What woful havoc dses the
celestial weapon make ere it falls from the
awkward grasp of the drunken giant!"