Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-07-24
WENDELL PHILLIPS AND The
SLAVE QUESTION.
Written for the TRIBUNE.

Written for the TRIBUNE.
Past ages have extolled the deeds
,s,f conouarors. and sounded the
gxalses of war. Today we honor the
es9nefactors of race, and celebrate the
virtues and the victories Of peace.
The modern hero is the moral nero.
He is the true conqneror who ovef-
comes Ignorance and oppression; who
Inv self sacrifice, adds to the sum OF
human JOY. Among these c~onquerors
stands Wendell Phillips, an arlstocrat
s,y berth. but a democrat by nature;
= lifelong advocate Of justice and h'-
xsranity,-y hated by the church. de-
snised by statesmen, scoiIed at by the
ares and mobbed by his fellow cltl-
xsEs
THAT .irrepressible conflict" IN
whose closing scenes ne was to be a
7utaster figure was the ~ontgroWth Oh
elements borne across the Atlantic
4.us, hundred years before. The
sessions Of Wendell Phillips and John
g,yovn. and the slaye-master with his
sB~s-starred cargo, came in two ships,
almost side by side. From the n
sprang the free civilization OF the
north. from the other the slave hold
7gy ar1stocracy Of the south. Conflict
se,s inevitable. The two civilizations
were bound to meet in blood.
Although the theory Of human
aa4,sality was held by the first CONT
mental congress and proclaimed III the
Declaration Of Independence, yet IN
kE.st crisis Of. the country's history,
s4,e constitutional convention, the
=s1authern representatives wrung from
sae north fatal concessions. Inc
s2arae-ffths slave basis and the free
5aapo~tation Of slaves, paved the way
Cor the Missouri Compromise, the
Pszritive Slave Law, the bred Scott
Becision. and for more than half a
xantury made the slave power su
greene. Thus by compromise was tht
aation born, and by compromise kept
alive until The final struggle. To-
thfs sake Of Union the nation acknowl
azEced the atrocious principle tina
xzzan can hold property in man.
The invention Of the cotton-gli
made cotton King and gave SLAYER.
IN the south an industrial basis
Then the slave power became aggre
ssire. Not content with s~elf-prescrlb
cd limits. it pushed its domains be
ynnd Mason 4 Dixon's line, and ann
ed at universal empire. For two hun
xlred years slavery had been opposed
but IN vain. Notwithstanding tn
words Of Washington and the warn
5na Of Jefferson, in spite Of argument
ID convention and appealsin congress;
j., defiance Of the national consclenc
and the moral sentiment OF man, til
slave interest at length became SOY
ereign. Proud and imperious it COZ
trolled congress and dictated to til
sresident. Courts and legislature
college and clergy, the manufacture
Interests Of the south, all bowed the
vassal heads to this mighty powe
1t pronounced the Declaration OF IL
dependence a sham,-democracy
snare. 1t offered rewards for tt
heads of citizens. denied the Bible
the negro and made his education
crlme.
AS the slave interest developed, Il
early anti slavery sentiment decline
Conscience was silenced by the gree
for gold. Commerce boarded tt
treasures Of traffic anu the plant
reaped the harvest OF unpaid toll. II
north was in q state OF profound /
difference: the state was morally pc
alyzed, the press was silent; the matte
dreaming only Of peace and prosper
". felt no breath Of the coming stor:
Scarcely aripple Of excitement stir
the political sea. The great pal
leaders mad long since hushed thu
4oices and whispered that slavery W
a subject too dangerous to be discus
ed. The north knew slavery W