Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-05-19
& O III IN d..
THOUGHTS FOR THE TIMES.
BY L. c. TODD.

FRIEND JONES Ae my thoughts on awful SUBJ
jects roll" lust now, l wish to drop q few into she
Bugle, on the significance Of the signs. It is but
a few brief years, since both the great POLITICAL
parties that divide the people Of these States, SOL
EMMY resolved, in their highest Conventions, that
tho question Of Slavery should be no more dgitated
in this country. That the great crime that over
arches and darkens the Continent, should be for
ever let alone; and q dead peace and unbroken
silence should permit the monster to spread and
strengthen, till the last thought Of liberty should
be lost in universal and unmitigated Despotism.
Such were the Resolves. Nevertheless, it has
been the subject Of fierce agitation ever since, in
Congress. in all the Conventions of ali parties, in
the State Legislatures, and wherever men dare to
speak. This proves, that no earthly power can
prevent the agitation of this all absorbing subject.
1t is n question paramount to all other political
questions, on account of the momentjus interests
and results connected with its settlement. Its
settlement! Alb, can it be settled? II must be, it
OW be. Who can doubt itf Is any body 90
weak, az 10 think for a moment, that a question
of such uuspeakable magnitude as the e~nsIavs-
ment of four millions Of the human race, increas-
ing in numbers aud strength every year, can re-
main long unsettled under the light of this age
1t is the last half Of the nineteenth century. Pro.
gress is tho greatest word, the most expressive
word, the most characteristics word Of this age.
The world is moving, and it will move. The
hOary DespOtisms of the Past, must all DO suhiec-
ted to the rigid questionings Of the Future. This
is an age Of coming reason. And Shareholders
will be required to give a reason for their practice.
The question involves the elements of terrible
strife aud desola:ing war-a bloody antagonism
between an avaricious and gigantic d~espotism on
the one hand, and w%ronged, maddened, and arous.
ed resistance on the other.
expect the sword will settle the question.
Could the thieves of men ever listen to reason, or
appreciate the warnings of history, all would be
we'll. But they cannot. They are drunken with
power. Moral suasion can no more reach their
ears, that Heavens thunder can wake the dead.
Their doom seems written in.the portentous proph-
ecy of Fate. True, John Brown and his glorious
) compatriots are dead. But let not the desopts
think the death of those brave men has dimmed
. the fires that burn in millions Of patriot hearts,
E OF changed the elements that unde.lie their dia-
I bolical system of human plumber. Not so. The
9 subterranean fires, though pent and smothered,
! are gathering awful force beneath the mountain OF
sin; and soon. l trow, will shake and rock this
guilty nation. and whelm multitudes in a sea OF
blood. The longer it is delayed, the greater will
be the contending powers, and the more terrible
, the catastrophy. l deplore war; yet, If human
rights can only triumph through a baptism OF
0 blood, let it come.
e Every Slave has a moral right to Freedom; and
. to use all the means which God and nature have
given him, to shake off the tyrants chains. And
every man has a moral right, TO help the weak
and the oppressed against the strong oppressor.
u Nay, it is his duty to do 80. Should I see a
n weak and defenceless man in the grasp of a MUIR
n derous rufian Of superior strength, struggling for
his life, and would not help him, I should DO
guilty Of wrong and should l help the oppressor,
| should deserve damnation. Should / witness a
helpless female struggling against the embrace Of
ss the ravisher, or ~writhing under the bloody lash OF
a demon man, what would be my duty As | be.
held her agony, and listened to her shrieks, would
r. it not be my duty to strike down the human fend;
< who Yields the lash, il in'my power TO do 50
20 Hundreds of thousands of innocent females are
le this moment subjected TO those very outrages in
this asylum Of the oppressed. The alsve law,
ID are against nature, against moral right. and Of nc
Ut more moral force, than the rules adopted by pir
s. ate gangs. The slsve states are but grand or
" ganized p~iracies. T ey combine all the elements
tie of piracy, rape. and murder, And every man whc
a who S%ustains the damring crime by words o.
u deeds, unless profoundly ignorant, is guilty Of th'
en- whole internal system. 1t is the duty Of al t.
I'd oppose this monster crime both where il iS no
ts yet, and where i. now is. / hopO no more nobl
men will expose their lives like the heroic Brown