, 1862-05-24
Tbe Gtitu1tf.
PUTTING DOWN THE ABOLITION.

SATURDAY, MAY ~, 1864 :.
PUTTING DOWN TIE AHo1'IT1oNe
ISTSs =
About five and twenty years ago, all the
layless men in the nation, and some that
we1a not law1ess, attempted to put down a
handful Of Abo}itionists- They made free
use Of brickbats, rotten eggs, fence rails,
and tar and feathers Occasionally the
law backed up the mob with an example Of
fine and imprisonment, choosing for its vic
Tin come lecturer who had refused to be
nlenced By violence. Banishment was not
unrequent. Sometimes Abolition types,
instead Of being distributed" by the au-
1ho1ized hands In <t cases" were dIszibu-
ted In the streets In the North, there
were many instances Of manning, some Of
whipping, a few Of shooting; in the South,
there was the addition Of hanging: Hardly
3 town OF village in eather section did not
witness the spectacle Of tyncting an Abo-
aitionist. The press was almost unanimous
In denouncing the "fanaics;" the
pulpit was equally 80; men: who
procesed to hate slavery much,
hated them more They had no friends in
any party. They we're nowhere safe. The
whole physical power Of The nation vas
against them. Congress struck down The
right Of petition in order to deal them a
blow. Uusheltered and unpitied, they
stood exposed during whole decade to
the reltinge Of such storm as has ycrF;
rarely discharged its fury on any religious
or political. organization since the days Of
the early Protestant Reformers. They were
assailed BY force more than twice as mi:
mezous as all the present armies Of the Re-
public. and with weapons quite as effective
let they were not annihila:ed; they were
not driven back at any point; they held
their ground, and their enemies were at
last compelled 70 abandon the ATTEMPT to
conquer or exteEmiuate them.
Since then great change has passed
upon the public sentiment Of this country.
Anti.slavery, from being an abstraction,
has grown into practical question On
the one side is arrayed the free press, the
honest pulpit, and the intelligence of the
county; On the other, is the slave power
and its m1nlons, the rubbish and drift wood
of extinct organizations, and the timorous
and vicious-those who can be maddened.
and those who can be scared, by the word,
Abolstionsan. Slavery is now criminal
under Indictment. In one year it has
sunk down from the very pinnacle
Of power to the level of convicted mur-
dcrer. 1t is banished forever from the
Federal Capital. It is prohibited from en-
te1ing the Territories. The Border States
are resti7e under its CALLING yoke. Ia
South Carolina, it is fleeing before the ad-
vance Of Christian civilization. It's crimes
have brought upon it the hatred, the Ioath-
ing and the contempt Of all enlightened
men.
As slavery becomes odious, liberty be-
comes popular. Where, twenty years $50,
anHslavezy counted its hundreds, now it
counts its ten thousands It sits in the
Presidential chair. Itrules in the Cabinet
It passes laws in Congress. It represents
us at foreign capitals. It Is the rallying
point Of loyalty, the very basis and founda-
ton OF our national existence, the rock
which stayed the swelling tide Of secession
and rebellion And now, when the cur
tain is raised on the last act Of the bloody
drama; when the slave power is staggering
under heavy and continuous blows, when
all the worlds cheering on the hosts offree-
dom, there comes forth from the noisome
dens Of treason a swarm of political bats.
owls, Shiny serpents, and creeping things,
missing threats against the Aboltlonists.
Foremost and loudest in the throng is Val
landigham, name Synonymous with all that
is spiteful, treacherous and mean. Conspic-
uous among the motley body guard of the
arbitrator, is the secession editor of the
Chicago print. Of all the ignoble herd Of
Northern traitors, no two have gone down
deeper in disloyalty, OF labored harder fol
the crown Of infamy. They were the first
to predict disaffection in tile North, fire
in the rear, and an uprising against the
Government, It is no fault Of theirs that
the prediction did not come true. Their
open defiance Of the popular sentiment
would hive dash Of temerity in it, did we
not known that they meanly counted
On tie contemptuous forbearance Of the
loyal masses. =
And this miserable rabble threaten to put
down the "Abolilionistsl'' Three great par
ties have already persisted in the attempt
The object Of their blind hatred is no8
stronger than eVer. Putting down Aboli-
donists involves the task Of suppressing
every loyal newspaper and periodical in the
country; silenciug every loyal pulpit
abolishing free schools and academies,
those nurseries Of ansi-slavery; wholesale
destruction Of books, particularly the Bible;
iuprisonsng or putting to death all our dis
dngtished authors, poets, and public lee
turers; and permitting two million citizens
from speaking, writing, or voting. Even
then The work would no: be dor-",h' a.sq af + :
would still remain the wives ta:aa] tHa:aaa] IL; =
Of these men. and all the Aba1itionists made
by the war. together with their wives and
children: We have read Of many absurd
and ridiculous things; but never Of any,
thing quite so absurd and ridiculous as
poor Vallandigham and his satellites
threatening to put. down Abolitionism!