St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-08-23

llldt bt NtilIllN
refined. intelligent, highly civilized, and
that they could be Christians without
slavery. 1t was ii great thing. 1t rec
onciled me to the crime | committed
when | ran away. when | stole myself :;
but when ran away You know | ran
away OH my own legs, and left every
body else III possession of their legs,
and could not blame myself IL great
deal.
Fellow citizens. have vemturcd
down among You to-day. not because
have discovered any new political truth
to apply to our present situation as Il
natiOn-indced, il is not necessary for
me or any body to go i'll search of new
truth until the old truths. long ago dis
covered and declared, have been thor
oughly recognized and reduced to prac-
tice by this state and nation. Properly
speaking, however. there l. no such
thing in the world It's new truth or old
truth. for truth iS eternal. Error may
he new or it may he old. since it is
founded in the misapprrhenSion of what
truth Is. 1t has its beginning and must
have its ending. 1t may exist III one
age and be mistaken for truth. 1t dis
appears in another age. and. if not sup
planted 10y truth. Is supplantcd 10y
another error. But truth. eternal truth.
is from everlasting unto everlasting
can never pass away. Such IL truth. is
mans right to liberty. He WAS born
with it. 1t entered into the very idea
of mans creation. 1t was his before he
comprehcndcd it. The title deed of it
j. inscribed on his soul. No cumpart>.
no agreements. no covenants. no com
hnatiomS into which men may enter
can ahrugatc or destroy this grand,
original. fundamental and eternal night.
If men form institutions that are in ac
curdancc with this truth. they stand :;
and if they form institutions contrary
to il. they will fail No power bcmcath
the sky can uphold amy free govern
mcnt. ANY social ~ stem. Inconsistent
with the grand idea of universal liberty
and equality among men. This l. the
higher law of which statesmen and
scholars take cogmiZancc. and Woe he
tide any people who act i'll disregard "t
IT.
Fellow -ritizrnS. wish To defend my
self in order to he the better able to
defend my cause. have been charged
with life long hostility tn one "t the
cherished institutions of Virginia. am
not ashamed of this lifelong opposition.
| have done nothing in this opposition
which any white man subjected to sla
very would not he proud of having done.
Virginia may blame me to-day for her
past. but she has herself to blame. II
WAS. Virginia. Your own Thomas Jrtf-
cr>on that taught me that all men are.
L 4
own Patrick Henry that taught me To
cNclainl. AS for me, give me liberty.
or gIve.mr death" Now feel | am ON
the soil of Virginia. and feel pretty
much AT home. | know there WIS Il
time when it would not have been
healthy to speak thus. There was Il
time when | w;s requested tu visit Nou.
and had to send my regrets: hut |
can come Ia Sce You nov. y great
change has taken place in the world.
The sun don't get up where il used Il" {:
il don't set where it used to. The air.
although it i tulerahlN warm. i Il good
deal more pleasant than it used Ia ht.
more agreeable. i'll every way. than it
used to he.
But let the dead past bury its dead.
and let lis look. for Il moment. at the
present. for | have not much more time
To speak. a> do not mean To dctain
You from hearing the man whom We
mean Ia place in the second highest OF
icc in the gift of this government.
Look at his face. Why. it j. Il hcur-
dictiun itself. | felt that. a. hr moved
through here. and SAW his broad. ben
rticrnt face. His heart i just like it ::
tnr | am H. we'll acquamtcd' with his
heart ;I> You are with his face. Now. |
partly expected tn meet with some of
my old friends. the late masters in the
state "t Virginia. ] am glad You are
here. | never had nNthlug against Nnu
III my life. | always loved Nnu and
only hated slavery. That i all. |
want to >;IN Il word To Nou To reconcile
N"u I" the present condition of things.
| believe that Nou. and all of lis. i'll
deed. stand upon one common platform
of patriotism. We want this country
prosperous. we want it peacrahlr We
want it happy. As il black man want
/ il 50. Notwithstanding the past. We
still have country. slavery is dead.
but we still have IL country Il glorious
country Il country that may have Il
/ more glorious future. than it could have
. llsl'i llsi'l w tAl~A-
\ great many want to know. now Il
/ days. what is the true policy of this
country To secure this great and happy
future. if il is possible. Well, | have
got this to say. lay this down a> Il
general principle: That whatever WAS
/ wise. whatever WAS proper for Nour So
/ cirtN i'll Il state of slavery is of nccc>Si
/ ty to-day very unwi>c. very improper.
/ and even dangerous. Take. for in
! stance. the matter of free discussion.
| While slavery existed freedom of speech
WAS necessarily dangerous To society
here. 1t could work evil. and only
evil. and that continually. II stirred
up. ur would stir up. society from it,
/ foundation. 80 that freedom of speech
was logically. taking slavery as Il base
line. an evil. lou could not have il
| il WIS dangerous. But. now that >la-
very has gone. that which WIS 81 peril
ou>. that which was dangerous and i'm
proper, is NOW the highest wisdom
Liberty. Nou know, toleratcS this. 1t j.
necessary to liberty that we look each
other in the face calmly and candidlN
and with the utmost trcedom, express
our convictions in regard to public men
/ and public measures. Another thing
WAS dangerous when You had slavery
That was education. Onr of the nnSt
dangerous things III the world to sla-
very was education. An educated ne
gro had the devil in him. He was {;
regular mischief maker, Il marplot, {;
di>turber. Il conspilat"r. He was dan,
gerous to have around. My master
used to say to me, Give II niggrr III
inch and he will take AN ell. Lear
him to read, and he will want to know
how to write and cipher. and so on. an,