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Show 34 rJU:H DA\'-MOHNI~G SES:SION. obedience. Let it be borne in mitu.l, that the slave is not alone to be com. mi!erated; the master may also be an object of compas~Sion. . That we have no privilege to express our abhorrence of slavery; to assail colonization, as imparting no relief from its.horrurs j to adopt every honor. able means to abolish both, is what never will, and never can be reasonably conteuded . Rut to foment faction!:l,-to carry on an exterminating and implacable war against our Southern bret.hren,-to invade their .fir~sides, and disturb their domestic security, is as remote from our duty, as tt 15 from our design and desire. \Ve have no sectional feelings, nor personal jealousies; we have no malevolence towards any man; we have none of that hatred for our adver~ uries, that seems to be apprehended; nor can we look with any thing short of horror at the appalling spectres conjured up to our view, of civil war, of bloodshed, and desolation; yet all these "convenient scarecrows," with twenty times their stop, shall never deter 115 from a candid and Uis· passionate expression of our sentiments upon this momentous question. Our state would be worse than that of the shve whose contlition we deplore, if we are to submit to the shackles of the mimi, nor dare to express opinions so ncar the heart, upon a subject so dear to the nation, \Ve know this is a subject upon which the South is highly sensitive, and which requires great tenderness; but it also requires great firmness and decision. A too delicate and tremulous hand, even in the most painful operations, endanger! the life of the patient, ami is the height of cruelty, as it produces agony without any commensurate beneJil. That there may be inJi viJuals with us who carry their zeal to an improper extent, and are occasionally transported beyond the bounds of reason, it would be useless to deny. We lay claim to no infallibility. Zealots arP. not confined to the profession of religion; they are to be found in all orders and degrees of men; but their enthusiasm, if not entirely justified, is certainly no legitimate subject of reproach upon the principles for which they intemperately contend, or upon the men by whom the same principles are more moderately and judiciously enforced. Collision, actual or imaginary, will ever be attended with excitement i but when the struggle between opposing parties is directed to the same great object, and the points in difference are rather in respect to men and measure!, than in regard to principles and motives, we should at least be sparing of our censure, if not lavish of our praise. Let us not, in self~exuhation, impiously thank heaven that we are not as the Pharisees are, but with Christian charity and humility do good unto those who despitefully use us and persecute us, and thereby establish a practical :sureriority. It is but fair, having thus imperfectly submitted our views, to cast a hasty glance at some of those which are entertained by many of our respectable fellow citizens. Let it not be supposed that we are enemies to colonization, rightly understood. '\Ve may be Chri!tians, a$ well as our neighbon, without atlopting all the ceremonies belonging to their creed. They may establish a thousand colonies, and people them all, provided the colonies are not converted into grave-yards, and the inhabitants into ghosts. They may extend the blessings of liberty as far as the sun shines, if they will only begin at home. They tell us Liberia is the land of promise. This is most true. But it is not the land of performance ; and that, in short, is our very objection, "it keeps the word of promise to the ear, and hreaks it to the hope." The mind of man is ever studious of change and pleased with novelty. If, therefore, Liberia presented any of those advantages which are professed, there would be abundant testimonials in its favor,-not from its agents, not from those who are pensioned out of it, not from those who have embarked their means in it, but never saw it,-but from those for DAVID I'AUL UltOWN 1S ORA'flOl'f, 35 whom it was ostensibly designed, and who, so far from its commendation, seem to consider it at best but a poor exchange for the slavery from which they were relieved. It is said, however, that its want of success is imputable to the opposition of this Society. That, indeed, is also partly true i but that opposition would not have prevailed, and might never have commenced, if it had not been for the remarkable vulnerability of its adversary, and the strong appeals of humanity in behalf of those whose credulity was abused, and whose rights were despised. Had it eucceeded, its success could never have been a national blessing, but might have conduced to lull us into a fancied security, a fatal slumber in the very arms of an earthquake, from which we could have been aroused only by the sound of the last trumpet. They further say, that the South unites with them, and it might seem so,-but, in truth, they rather unite with the South; and we defy any man carefully to examine their doctrines- their constitution- and the speeches of their respective supporters, without arriving at the conclusion that they are entirely dependent, for their existence as a Society, t1pon the South? "A breath unmakes them, as a breath has made." Bound by this tenure, what free will or agency can they have-upon what security can they build th eir prospects of success? Upon empty and indefinite pledgesupon futile and illusory hopes-upon visionary gratuities :md concessions, made to-day and forfeited to~morrow? or, if not actually forfeited, liable to such modifications and restraints as shall tend to relieve the slaveholder, without relieving the slave! We have thus, in rapid review, shown you what is liberty and what is slavery ;-how the former may be preserved and the latter abolished. In conclusion, Jet me implore you to persevere in your enterprise, but with all becoming tenderness and sympathy; let not the indignation which you feel for the sufferings of your fellow men, betray you into intemperate measures that shall rather increase than allay those sufferings. The object of your association is to restore the slaves to freedom, and, while thus improving their condition, to meliorate that of the country at large. The magnanimity of this object no one can deny; but, nevertheless, much must depend upon the means adopted for its accomplishment. Do not, therefore, by a pertinacious and selfish adherence to any favorite plan, place in jeopardy that success to which all \'iews, in order to be eligible, ought to be directed. Virtue, it is true, is always fearless, but always cautious. A headlong devotion to the purest and most heavenly pursuits not only involves the votary in danger, but oflen precedes assured disappointment and defeat. On the other hand, be not too tame neither: tameness and timidity are unworthy of this great cause, and often produce or promote the very danger which they apprehend. In fine, through evil and through good report, ever manifest yourselves to be the true soldiers of the blessed cross; the sleatly and devout followers of your heavenly Exemplar, 11 the chief among ten thousand, and ahogcther lovely." |