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Show 20 FIRST D A Y-~IORN'I~ O S E SSIO ~ . must fllla lly prevPtil. Almost all th:1.t is neeessary, in onlcl' to in::;ure in the result total emancipation. is, :u: has been said, to admit that 111:111 is not mere property. 'l'his principle lies at the very root of the evil complained of, and yet. its proof neithrr requires, nor admits of argument; and to altempt any would be disgraceful, and nlmost impious. T o deny it is to relinquish the charter of our own liberty. And yet our adversaries would, a t least, practically alfeet to deny it. The slave has no civil rights. He cannot marry ;-the partner of his bosom, therefore, is a concubine. His children have no inheritable blood,- in technical language they are nullius Jilius; and what is worse, they are the property of the master. T he sla\·e can acquire no estate, real or pP.rsonal. Llis aequisitions are his master's. The slave cannot testify: nor <"an slaves testify for him. ]:lersonal outrage, there· fore , and even murder, may be committed, and are committed with impunity. Of cou rse, as the sanctity of ma rriage is disregarded, all marital rights a re despised. Amalgamation and procreation are rendered sources of profit and traffi c. Education is expressly forbidden. Religious improvement is Uis· countenanced, at; at variance with the exercise of the will of the master. And yet with all these enormities existing in the vt>ry heart of om glorious republic, the merciful and bountiful C reator still lavishes his blessings upon us. The rain still descends upon the evil and the good, the just and the unjust. But how long, 0! my fellow citizens, shall these evils be endured ? How long shall the thunders of Omnipotence be stayed? How long shall retribution be suspended? Shall we presume upon the fo rbearance of the Almighty 1 Shall we provoke the red right arm of vengeance t l s this the requital for our own deliverance from a foreign yoke? Is this the redemption of our own national pledge for the freedom and equality of man? Benefits are not always bleP:sings, however: ~mictions are not always curses, though they may sometimes appear so in the views of finite man. Blessings unmerited are but a reproach to their possessor. Afllictions undeserved lose ludf their poignancy in the consciousness of virtue. Men and nations are only supremely wre tched, when the puni.shmcnts they e ntlure are the just reward of th eir transgression; when they have s inned against light and love; when by their own example~ they have tau uht bloody instrnction, which, being taught, returns to pbgue the monitor. ·i~hen, then, it is, that like the rebel angels, t!Jcy behold " Still io the lowest deep .·\ lower .deep, thnt t!u·eatcning to dcvou1· them, Opens w1dc,--to wh1ch the hell they suffc1· Seems a heaven." It is, I say, with nations, as it is with men. Jus lice must have sway. Truth must pre~ail. This nation is the nation of my birth and affection: but she has a learful score to settle for her national iniquities. A score which should .terrify into reform and repentance, while she contemplates t~e fate of anCJ ~nt states that have flourished and perished. The oppresSIOn of the Afr1cans, the persecution of the Indians, the violation of her pledges, t!1e contempt of her treaties, the substitution of power for right, the utter tl1s regard of those virtues which alike sustain men and governments : all these may be prosperous for a time, but if the re be an all-wise and alljust Powe r,- and who dare doubt it,-thcy mus t not, and they cannot come to good. I regret even incidentally to institute, in this respect, a comparison between our beloved cou.ntry and the 1~ations of Europe. Look at Great Britain, ~he quee1~ of n.atwn~ ... Surpass1ng all Greek and all Uoman fam e ; triumph· mg over 111test1ne diVISIOns and foreign foes ;-cemented, united, and per· DAVID PAUl. DROWN1S Of!,\TIOS. 21 petuated by an existence of nearly one thousand years. \Vhat a glo rious spectacle docs s he exhibit to an admiring world, by her devotion to freedom; not to her own freedom alone, but to that of mankind. fn comparison with this great object, her hundreds of millions are but tlu~ t in the balance. Justice is a much surer foundation for national prMperity, than wealth. That which is unquestionably right, and which no man can deny, she resolves shall be expedient, and accordingly performs. Who can doubt the reslllt, if there be reliance on H eaven. Jf the sacrcU rights of man be tlenr in the s ight of his Creator, the performance of a. lofty, moral, and religious duty, like this, might almost make atonement for centuries of . national crime. Hut not to look to the settlement upou the book of eterna l li fe, how stands the account upon the ledger of this worltl? Place the hundred millions on the debit, and the thousands of ltberated and grateful slaves to the credit of this great people,-and the balance in their favor, is :tn immortality of fame, and an eternity of hope . llow is it, alas! with us? \Vc not o nly withhold our treasures from a similar ph ilanthropic schemc,-we not only witlihold our approbation from it,-but we daily make laws against, we impede and resist it in every aspect it presents. We forbid its Uiscussion; we punish and destroy its atlvor.atcs; and while we admit it to be a eurse, we hug it to our bosoms, and console ourselves for these absurdities by proclaiming liberty to all ! :ind vaunting that we are the only enlightened republic upon the habitable globe. Atlm irable consis tency! Uuparalleled humanity! \Ve are toltl, however, that true as all this may be, Great Brita_in is e ntitled to Jess praise, at least for her magnanimity, and we should be ILable lO less censure, as slavery was introduced into this country, orig inally, by England herself. lf unwillingly conlinuetl, this looks like an excuse. The British system of taxation was also introtluced :- did we submit to it, or have we imitated it ? \Ve we re able to break our own fetters, but we are unable or unwilling to break the fetters of e thers. \Ve justify our vices by those of the mother country, while we refuse to emulate her virtues in the liberation of our victims. Re formation from sin is more glorious than never to have fallen ; because it is easier to avoid guilt, than relieve ourselves from its toils; the honor is therefore proportioned to the difliculties encountered. Great Britain has s ullied her national fame, it is true; but years of practical penitence have burnished her escu tc.heon, nnd tears of gratitude from those whom she has emancipated and rel ieved, have washed away the odium that stained and disgraced her history. She has made her atonement,- where is ours? If the curse of slavery were no g reater than it proves to the slaveholders themselves, it were well to abolish it. If it were no greatrr than to prodnce the ~ ear~-burni ng and bickering which we daily witness, it would be well to abolish ll. We are but one family, locally divitled, but still allied by blood. Our brethren ask us why we interfere; and say they hnve n. right to do as they please with their own. T hey have no such right. T his is not a confederation of sovereign states. The s tates have a separate government, as the stars have a separate go· ~e~nm~nt.' but they are all tributary to the great plan of the Creator; and so IS 1t w1thm the several states. Every man has the absolute right to his own house, but.tw h~s no right by setting fire to it, to subject the adjoi ning property of hts ne tghbors to loss or to peril; and he is liable to be punis hed for so doing. The law g ives them the right, as they say, to hold their slaves. B ut when it is obvious that, as the result of this privilege, the entire Union is subjected in the result to probable injury, it becomes a matler of deep concernment to us, as well a~ to them. And we should be wanting in duty to ourselves and brethren, du.l we not endca\'Or to avert il 1 by endeal'oring |