The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1864-11-10
old Fashioncd views Of slavery

INbpdiAANo tiANb Wv llipNlIullNIl ID lOullNtN
upon Divine Right. But it IS only
within Il few years that the statesmen
of the South have taken this ground.
The illustrious leaders of the Revolu.
tion, including Washington, Jefferson
and Madison, proclaimed slavery an
unmixed curse. Washington, by will
emancipated his slaves.
1t is well to understand precisely
what the best men of past times have
said of slavery. The inspired Word
should be deemed good authority to
begin with-bctter than mere human
opinions. What says the Biblog m
rIs not this fast that | have chosen
to loose the bands of wiokedness, to
undo tie heavy burdens and to let the
oppressed go free, and that yc breal;
every yoke !"-Isa. lviii. 6.
r"Wo unto him, who buildeth his
house by unrlghtcousness, and his
cham bers by wrongs that useth his
neighbor's services without wages, and
giveth him not for his work. k."-Jer,
xxi. II. ..., .....
Therefore, thus saith the Lord, We
have not hardened unto INC in pro
claiming Liberty every one to his
brother, and every man TO his neigh
boz ; behold, | proclaim liberty Tor
you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to
the pestilence, and to the famine" y
Jcr, xXXix II. -... --..--
The Declaration of independence,
the principles of which were held so
sacred by our fathers that they vowed
to lay down their honor, fortunes and
lives, for its support, says;
awe hold these truths to be sclf.evi.
dent, that all men are created equal ;
and endowed by their creator with GER
tain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty and the pursuits
Washington, in letter to Lafayette,
says: ltI -r..a..L ,a. - -.'
Your late purchase in an estate in
the colony Of Cayenne, with the view
OF emancipating the slaves upon it, is
generous and noble proof Of your hu.
mUnity. Would to GoG a like spirit
might diffuse itself generally into the
minds CT the people of this country"
Again, in Il letter to Robert Morris,
dated April u, 1856, Washington says:
"There is not man living who
wishes more sincerely than / do, to
see plan adopted for the abolition Of
slavery" y..4r.
Patrick Henry said:
II repeat it again, that it would re-
joice my very soul, that>every one of
my fellow beings was emancipated.-
AS we ought, with gratitude, to ad-
mire that decree Of Heaven which has
numbered us among the free, we ought
to lament and deplorc the necessity of
holding our fellow-beings in bondage"
Madison, in the Conyention that
formed the Federal Constitution, said:
at is wrong TO admit into tho Con-
stitution the idea that there can be
property inman. Where slavery cx-
lists, the republican theory becomes
still more firllacious." , eu
Mr.. Monroe, in the Virginia Convcn-
ton, said;
ave have found that this evil has
preyed upon the vitals of the Union,
and has been preiudicial to all the
States in which it has existed" .
John Randolph, while in Congress,
said:
Sir, I envy neither the heart nor
the head of that man from the North.
who rises here to defend slavery OH
principle" ...,.. ..f ...
William Pincincy, cue of the most
distinguished of Maiylm d's sons, said
in his day: ""' 0. .'t. "
"Wherofore should We confne the
edge Of censure to our ancestors, OF.
those from whom they purchased Are
we not equally as guilty! IHcystrew-
ed around the seeds of slavery pc
cherish and sustain thegrowth. 4; *
Blythe eternal principles of natural JUS
tico, no masters in tho State has right
to hold his slave in bondage q single
hour"
Luther Martin, of the same State,
in 1887, said:
"Slavery is inconsistent with thc
genius of republicanism, and has
tendency to destroy those principles
on which it is supported as it lessons
the sense of the equal rights of man
kind, and habituatcs us to tyranny
and oppression"
Henry Clay in the US. Senate, in
1850, said:
so long as God allows the vital
current TO flow through my veins, |
will nerer, nerer aid in admitting one
rod of free territory to the everlasting
cur$e Of human bonddge."
Mr.. Leigh, in the Legislature Of
Virginia, in 1862, said Z
~ thought, until very lately, that
il was known to everybody that, dur
ing the revolution, and for many years
after, the abolition of slavery was a
favorite topic with many of our ablost
statesmen" &c. t.
Mr., Chandler, in the Virginia Leg
islaturc, in 1882, said:
cit is admitted by all who have ad-
dressed this House. that slavery is o
curse, and an increasing one, That
its future increase will cause commo-
ton, cannot be doubted" H..
John Jay, first Chief Justice of the
United States, in, q letter on the abo-
lition of slavery Says goL .larqd
Still America comes into this meas