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Show 24 FIRST DAY-lllOilNI1\G SE~S lQN . Is this funat icism ?-is it ruflianism? -or what_ is it !. That it is a _gro~s violation of the law and of the righ ts of an Amencan c HJ~~ n , no ~nan 111 Ius senses can for a moment doubt. Yet, some of our good cJtJz cus, 111 the very sincerity of fear and cold blood, ~ nd in tl_1e abumla_nce of th eir sy mpalh ~es , join in thi s storm of censure agatnst the1r own. fr~ends, a_ntl clarnor aga1nst interference with Southern bondage. Why, th1s 1ndeed IS fru gal honesty. It is expediency. The cry is up, a_nd it is easier to_ prom?te than resis~ it. But if they decide this great question by the relattve no1se of the partH~R, they will fi nd themselvc_s in a woful ~rro r .. The m?ral . sense of the c~m munity is with us-the JUdgment of nnpartlal men •.s '~1th us-the sm1les of the world are with us,-antl, above all ,-the pnne~pl cs of eternal and immutable justice are ,, .. ith us. \Vhat else tlo you requir~? . \Vc do not di sturb them. ·when the colored man IS clanued, we defend him, and afford him an opportunity of establishing his liberty. tVho t;hall condemn this ? 'Vhen we interpose, it is to meliorate the condition of the slave and master, through legislative and congressional enactment. 'V c ask no violence-we invite to none. \Ve avoid all. "Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will to men," is the motto on our banner. If that banner be stained with blood, it is not the blood of our adversaries, but our own. It may be matter of reproach to them, but assuredly not to us. The views of this body have been grossly misunderstood, ami, by the wicked and designing, grossly misrepresented. The tir~e approa.ches w.hen .it shall appear i~1 its true f~atures; stripped of the 1.hsgu1se with wluch tt has been bedtzencd by tis enemies. T ell me what is to be the result of this course? I do not mean within a year, or a century :-what eilCcts will the ripening hand of Time alone produce, supposing that that which is to come ~onfor~ to past experience. \Vhy in less than a century, the colored population whtch now amounts to one-fifth of the people of the United States, increasing as it does, much fastar than the white population, will exceed the white population. They have the benefit in their increase of all shades and complexions, from the black to the quadroon, while we are comparatively restricted. \Vhcn their numerical force shall exceed ours, wlut then? I do not dare to hint at the fea rful sto ry which is reserved for the hi storians of that age. The event may be long delayed, but it must be finally met. And what a wretched and delusive policy is th at, which postpones the resistance of infant ev il , in the vain hope of subduing it with greater ease in its maturity of strength. Yet our brethren will not be warned. They cannot deny the conclus ions at which we have arr ived, and yet they lull themselves into repose by the fancy that the increase of their fellow-creatures in bondage, like that of their horses and sheep, will prove a bl.essing. Who ever knew vice to be eventually followed by a blessing? It may appear to prosper for a time, it is true; but the ~equel will assuredly shew that that very prosperity was but one of its penalties. In truth, time has already outgrown sla,·ery; and this is in nothing more st rongly manifested than in the threats and bravadoes of the South, who vent their spleen upon the few who act upon those principles that the many profess. "These signs," says a distinguished writer, "cannot be mistaken ;" - ant.l she alhls, u 1 never heard of any one but Gov. l\lcDuffie, who supposed th at !5lavery can last for ever. lie in his message to the South Carolina Legislature, declares that he cons id r r~ slaYery the corner· stone of republican liberty . And that if he were dying, his latest prayer would be, that his children should Jive nowhere but amidst the institutions of slavery." Such sentiments deserve a halter or a mad s hirt. DAVID PAUL BROWN1S ORATION. 25 And yet, wonderful to relat~, they ~ere adopted in the Legislature by :1. solemn vote !:-a sol~mn vote, .•n?eed, tl was-a most precious legacy from fathers to th~ tr offspnng. Tl:us IS the ~arne ultra spirit that has produced L~1e recent d•sgraceful scenes 111 our natwnal councils ; scenes that an Amencan should blush to remember, and which !.ave doomed the actors therein to imperi shable infamy . I spettk freely, as belongs to the occasion, and as becomes th.is place , w.hich is dedicated to Fr~cdom. Liberty is lovely in all her allnbutes, but 111 none so much so as 111 that of speech, si nce upon that she must mainly depend for thr. prese rv ation of all the rest. It is ~ur the r urge~, however, that this property, these souls and si n e w .!~ , are thtltrS. Grant tt, for the argument,--though the warm blood freezes ~'· hile we grant it ; still if they profess to be willing to manumit their slaves m order to colonization, the m en~ pecu niarv interest becomes no subject of ?bjection, as the loss, in both cases, to the ~ow ner, would be the same. Or, tf we are answered, that this manumission is to be partial, and not general, why then we reply as has long been contended, that while colonization lops off some of the br.ancl~es o~ this U pas, it causes the tree to take a deeper root, and t~ floun sh 1n w1der a.nd !ess irradicable ruin. By unanimity among the different states, by leg1sla t1ve enactments, and with the sanction of. the national governm ent, a thousan d less objectionable modes of relief Illlght be ad?p led. Sett!ements within the United States, upon the millions of acres ummproved, m1ght be crea ted or established. The whole earth opens her bosom, and stretches wide her arms to lure and lead us on to one great national effort in behalf of the oppressed-nay, not only in bP.half of the oppressed, but in behalf of the oppressor, and for I he honor of the free government under which they both live. But, it is said , they must not be permitted to remain with us : that this is the danger. There is no danger. Jlow absurd it is to affect to believe that two millions of slaves , without civilization or moral instruc tion, and ~1aturall y entertaining great animosity towards those by whom they are held m bondage, should be perfectly harmless; whereas, these game men when res tored to freedom, anti improved in their civil and moral relatiods and ?ound. i11 gratitude to .their be~efactors, should be so fraught wilh ~eril. fhat 1s not the expe n ence wh~eh the history of the 'West India emancipation supplies. That is not consistent with human nature. It is not c~nsistent even with brute in sti nct. To render a dog feroci ous, you chain hnn ... He becomes mild and tractable in his intercourse with men. The condJ.lion of .the blacks, mu ~ t even, if not slavish, for a long time necessarily re.mam s?rv1le. Afte.r the1~ felters are r~ moved , the chains of prejudice st11l reman~ . . But thmr serv1ces would be mfinitely more valuable, and the expe nses mctd ent to them, by no means proportionably increased, were they re~tored to freedom.. Diffused over this vast country, the poison would be ~o d1luted, so neulralized! as to lose its de~truetive properties, and all soc1ct.y would soon resume tis healthy tone, w1th the blessings of Heaven upon lis head, and the peace of Heaven in its heart. ~ Stil.l, it is asked, \Vhat! shall. we ad mi t them to the rights of citizens ? fhat iS ~matter for fu.lll.re co n sJ~e r atio n. It does not essentially belong to the quesllon, whelher 1t IS cxpcd tent to restore them to th eir natural rights. It does not belo!1~ to the .Q'~est.ion whether, being men , they shall be treated as beasts. Polit~cal or ?lvtl n ghts may be regulated according to circumstances, at lea!il 111 relation to those whose freedom is conditional in its cita.racter; ~~d we cannot r:erceivc how this objection can be more available aga1nst abo!IL1o1~ ,tiHJn colontzation. The blacks are fre e, who are conveyed to the colony. J h e~, .a:; free£? ell , ca n return to the land of their t"hoice, and the refore, the only (h fl crcnce IS a voy<~ge to the colony and back. How far 4 |