The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-09-20

speak of pcrpetuatng Slavery? Shall it.
never cease Never? Stop and consid
er where you are and in what days you
| live
This is the nineteenth century. New
er, since mankind has recollection OF
times gone by. has the human mind dis
closed such wonderful powers. The hid
den forces Of nature we have torn from
/ their mysterious concealment and yoked
them into the harness of usefulness they
carry our thoughts over slender wires to
distant nations; they pull the gigantic
oars of our ships they set in motion the
iron fingers of our machinery they Will
soon plow our fields and gather our crops.
! The labor of the brain has exalted to
mere bridling aud controlling OF natural
forces. the labor of the hand--and you
think you can perpetuate system which
reduces MAN, however degraded, yet ca
pable of development, to the level of a
soulless machine
This is the world of the nineteenth
century. The last remnants OF feudalsm
in the old world are fast disappearing =
The Czar of Russia, in the fullness of
his imperial power, is forced to yield
to the irresistible march IF human
progress, and abollshes Serfdom. Even
the Sultan of Turkey can no longer
maintain the ba barous customs Of the
!; Moslem against The pressure Of the cen
tury, and slavery disappears And you,
ciizens of Republic, YOU think you can
arrest the wheel of progress with your
bred Scott decisions and Democratic plat
forns Enthusiastic cheers.
Lock around you and see how lonesome
YOU are in this world of ours. As far as
modern civilization throws IFS rays, what
f people, what class of society is there like
!, YOU? Cry out into the world your wild
and guilty fantasy of property IN man,
| and every echo responds with cry OF
horror or contempt; every breeze. from
whatever point Of the compass it may
come, brings you verdict Of copdemna-
| ton. There is no human heart that sym
E pathises with your cause. unless 1t sym
: pathises with the cause of despotlsm IN
/ every form. There is 20 human voice to
/ che, you on i'll your struggle; there is
F. no human eve that has tear for your re-
C verses no link Of sympathy between the
common cause Of the great human broth
: erhood and you You hear of omanclpa-
z ticn in Russia, and wish it should
I fail. You hear of Italy rising, and fear
the spirit of liberty should become conta,
. glous. Where all mankind rejoices, you
: iIremble. Where all mankind curses, you
1 synpathise
: And in this appalling solitude you
+ stand ilone againsr hopeful world, alone
< against great country, fighting youl
j hopeless fight, hopeless rs the struggle
+ of the Indian against the onward march
h of civilization Exhaust all the devices
Ii which the inventive genius Of despotisn
Y may suggest. and yet how can you resist
!, In every village school house, the little
I children who learn to read and write, are
/ plotting against you in every laboratory
e Of science, in every machine shop, the hu
: man mlnd is working the destruction o.
s your idol. You canuot make an attempt
to keep pace with the general progress o.
: mankind, without plotting against your
Il selves. Every steam whistle, every puff
ing locomotive is sounding the shrek o
/ liberty into your ear. From the noblest
r instincts Of our hearts down to the sordC
n grcediness Of gain, every impulse of hu
: man nature is engaged in this universe
!. conspiracy. How can you resist? Where
= are your friends IN the North! You
Y ever ready supporters are scattered to the
I winds as BY enchantment, never to unite
Y again Hear them trying to save thei
# own fortunes, swear with treachcrous ca
r gerness that they have nothing in COM
e mon with you. And your opponents
!, Your boasts have lost their charm, your
: threats have lost their terrors upon them
y The attempt is idle to cloak the les o
l. Lazarus with the lion skin of Hercules
We know you. Every one of your boasts
!. understood as disguised moan Of weak
" ness every shout of defiance as disgLis
h ed cry for mercy. That game is playec
t. out. Do not deceive yourselves. This
J. means not only the destruction of "a pant,
V, this means the defeat of a cause. b,
D shrewder tlan the shrewdest, braver than
n the bravest-it is all i'll vain, your caus'
e is doomed
!? And in the face of all this you iusis
e. upon hugging, with dogged stubbornness
e your fatal inlatuation. Why not, Will
). manly boldness, swing round into th'
h grand march of progressive humanity
= You say it cannot be done to-day. Gu
N it be done Tomorrow Will it be eaSie
(? twenty, fifty years hence, when the fear
as ful Increase of negro population will hav
II aggravated the evils of slavery an hun
re drcd fold, and withit the difficulties 0
re its extinction? Did YOU ever think 0