, 1863-02-26
Qlifaau Qrtbnue.
LR1DAY. FEBRUARY 8, 1861
SPEECH
OF
CHARLES D. DRAKE
Before the Freedom Convention at Louisvilles
Kentucky, February "a, 1864.



Ihe presence Of this Convention in this
city betokcns progress; signals del7erance,
and 1eral6s freedom; progress in patriotism
and tsaternity, oeliyerance Of the white MANS
mind and conscience from long thraldOm to
despotic system of human slavery, and
tteedom-Ha;.rsed|fr freed onto the American
black man, after more than two centuries of
bondage. The great mission Of the nine
frnition; and the first centenary OF American
]nt1cpcntcncc-Nhfchm many here may live to
,fitnces-will resound with the rcjoicings Of
white md black men, ovcra land from which
tie stain Of slavery has been wiped ont. We
conld not have come hero in peace three
years ago on such m GRAND; we shall not
need to come. again three years hence; for
before that day The mighty work will bc
done; and ever5 foot Of American soil; Nuri-
fed By fire End blood, Will: be Liberty's con-
fecratcd home for all the ages to come. : :,
Such is the glorious prospect, as We stand
to-day On this lookout Mountain, Of
time. and, high above the clouds through
which We hare fought our way to its sum
NIT, peer into the future from which
the veil is being rent Simple words and
few, III the expression Of emotions, bcf1t this
hour. We shonld first ascribe to HIM the
glory, whose mighty arm has thus far held
Tue American nation up, and whose purpose
"
never more manifest In the history Of nations
than In the swift vengeance He Is taking Of
the idols for which the aristocrats OF South
eru Slavery shrouded this land in gloom
But as there is no nfs sht in Heaven, SO man
CAN make no gloom on earth that Omnipo-
tence cannot pierce. The sun ia rlstng, the
miEts of error ere drifting away, the nation
throws. off the sl,ackles and endorsement to
slavery, and tomorrow, as it were, the noon
tide OF freedom will blaze OYER a country
where no man shall ever again be called, or
be, s1aye.
it is 1T, my friends, that nc meet here on
tie soil Of kcntucly--pld Kentucky, brave
srd generous Kentuclzy zy-but alas In the
hour Of her count1y's dire need-t:Armed-
Neutrality Kentucky. She stood neutral
once between treason and loyalty and dream
I'd tAat the fires Of war could sweep all
around her and leave her gardens unBcathed
She thought to arm her noble sons for her
self, but hosts of them armed themselves for
the Union and Liberty. She looked upon
her country and remembered her warrior's
glory on many bloody field, under the ;:tars
and Stripes, and her mighty heart would
hlvc yearued 10 that old flag again; but In
cn evil hour she looked upon herself, aal the
grind Union throb Of Tint heart dTindlcd,
fer within herself was SLAVERY! She heBita-
ttd to be loyal, for slavery Was disloyal: she
Wavercd in the path Of duty, tor Slavery
jcstlcd her; che well nigh chose to be con-
euered by force, but ut laet she stood erect
end firm, and so she will stand to the end.
Let Us not TOO severely ccnsure this good old
State for the indecisiou Of that trying day.
No man knows, but by experience the power
Of slavery over the people among whom it Is
Affixed institution, or can otherwise comprc-
Lend the bondage OF Thought and feeling it
imposes on those who have been reared in
It's presence, and under Its influence. I have
experienced it in my youth in this very State.
mfr
and it mnkcs me charitable towards indecIs-
ion md hcsitancy there or here, in the first
OnEct of the rebellion.
But that day is past Three years Of slaye-
ry's war upon the Union arc enough to wean
world from slavery; and old Kentucky
land, be weaned from it-must cast off its
traitorous emb1acc-must help to slay and
bury it out Of sight forever. Kcntuckians
this is no idle talk. In all sincerity soy
aEafn-yet not as an individual. but rs the
Interpreter Of passing eycnts,-1 say again
Kentucky na,Gt, She cannot abide US she Is !;
she must rise into complete aud absolute
freedom; for she cannot, If she would. be-
come part Of the empire of slayery for
which the South is fighting, but which instead,
is tlis horr, rs certain to be q region of free
dom, as ifno slave had ever trod its soil !;
and out Of that empire and in the Union, and
hemmcd In, as she soon will be, on every side
U4 e1ll dtfUtEll ~ 1EteQu1u, IL were llfaC18
OF all history If she alone OF all this sisterhood
Of States. could defy the power Of events and
hold to her bosom IN institution which every
where else withers under the ban OF the 1iu-
nan 1ace, and the tToWn ofOutraged Heaven,
But am not here to speak to Kcntuckians,
go much as to Americans. Nor do come to
sleak Of Kentucky slavery so much as of
the slavery question Of Its 1oca1 and StAte
character, and made it national matter.
The point is no longer whether slavery shall
be local Institution, but whetherit shall be
at all The iseuc is not now whether State
policy, State constitutions, and S1ate laws
Of the nation;, hut whether, having proved
itself traitor, and stepped itself to the very
IEs in the blood Of patriots, the nation shall
suffer 1t to live The other day this question
could not have been safely discussed here;
to-day it can Treason and rebellion have
left no "Eacred soil " Of slavery on this con-
tinent- Freedom to assail slavery, is now as
1E1ctraEib1e right as freedom to worship
God according to the dictates Of conscience
Slavery is one and indiyisible; and to assai1
It In Missouri or Maryland, is to assail it in
hcntncky Or Tennessee. What it knows in
one Place, What it feels In one place, what it
does In one place, what it demands in one
place, it knows, feels, docs and demands
in greater or less degree in every other place
Of 1tsdomiuions. Everywhere it knows its
own interest before any other; feels and as
scrts its own interruptions power, does its
o"n Work OF aggression, and. domination,
and demands its own supreme aggrondize-
ment. Everywhere 1t is an aristocIat; every
where the foe Of the poor and the companion
lnd parasite Of the rich; everywhere ambi-
uous, selfish and rapacious, eyeEy where lntol-
Grant and proscnptiTc, and as the history Of
the past three years has verified, everywhere
that 1t dared, cruel, bloodthirsty and treach-
n M TT ia rES1 4&ar$ In
nil over this land, that slavery is PUBLIC
EHEal1; and the whole mass Of loyal Amcri-
cans proclaim In voice like mighty :thun-
derines that slavery shall be destroyed; and
it n i'll be destroyed, not in rcyolted States
alone, but In Missouri, in Maryland, In Dela-
ware, and in Kentucky, too. IGrcat ap-
treating slavery thus as public enemy, it
seems to me nor, Us it did not on the 1st of
January, 1865, II at the President Of the Uni
ted Suites In the Proclamation which made
that day pcrpetua1ly memorable, came short
i eency he stroye to meet. In that Proclama-
ton he dealt with sIa,vs as adjuncts and sup
Forts Of the rebellion; when in my poor
judgement, as see the case now, he should
have dealt with the institution ef slape,v as the
rebellion's source and strength. The rebellion
TINT crime the Institution shonld have re-
ceived at his hands Its death blow in the
entire land, for it is everywhere essentially
the same In its relations to this war. It was
as wise to. attempt to execute sentence
of death upon a condemned maIefnctor
by cutting off a hand or foot, as under the
circumstances Of this time to liberate slaves
in the 1nsurgent regions ard yet leave the
slave sytft7n untouched. Had the President
proclaimed the instant and universal extirpa-
tion Of the system, It would have been but the
logical sequence Of holding slavery to be the
cause Of the rebellion, and the logic would
hare swept the heart Of the nation, and the
public sentiment Of the world with Tcsistlcss
and boundless power. The border slave
States might for time have demnTred, per-
haps grOw1ed, possibly attempted to resist,
but ere this, loyalty and patriotism would
havc indicated the Justice Of totally destry-
ing for the country's sake what mined to
the institution, as d whole, the penalty Of its
unparalleled crime against liberty, humanity
Not ior censnre upon the President, have
thus adycrted to what consider the defect
81 LIS great act Of emancipation. 7 thank
him for that net; tue human race is his debt
Of for 1t, and for it history will honor him.
only regret that he should not have seen his
way clear to pronounce the doom Of slavery
in the whole land. Dut ytt, may it ,sos Be that
Tie completion Of this grand .cork hos bee. In By
Reridtnee TO nc loyal people Of the Border States
They ha9c sent foh iScir sons ee to epeiy GH: e.
ta field for the Union; but SO has the North
They have poured ont their wealth for the
cause Of free Institutions; but so Inns the
North They hare nou1ned over their slain
in the battles under the old flag; but SO has
the North. In al these things the free States
Of the North, and the border slave States have
moved together, sharing the tolls, the dan
gers, the suflerings, the sorrows, and the sac
ffhces Of this unequalled war, But beside aIl