OCR Text |
Show 00 SECOND DAV-I.;VENINO SESSION. the Society of Friends might sP.nd out an epistle or memorial on the~~ great evil of slavery," and no body was offended. Even the S?uthern reviewers would notice them with great favor and approbation, assunng the benevolent author, or author@, that the slaveholders were not less sensible ?f the ~viis of slavery than their Northern brethren,-but always concludmg w1th the portent~us question, 11 What can we do?" "Sure enough," said the good Northerner, "the slaveholder is as much opposed to 1:1lave~y as we are, and if any thing could be done, he would be the first to put Ius shoulder to the wheel." This little quP.stion, "what can we do," at the close of an article approving of these good men'~ efi'orls, was .a sufli~ient moral anod~ne; it stupified their conscience ami qmeted a!l thctr anxiety o~ the subJect. Their efforts had perhaps sent out a straggling ray of moral light across the dark path of slavery, and expos~d the hide?usness of a horn or a c.toven fo~t, but it shot rapidly along, leavmg the tluck darknc~s to ~lose 1~ af~er It, which seemed to be increased by the momentary hght With which It had been disturbed. The monster slavery, like the Greek philosopher, who cut ofl· his dog's tail to turn the atten.tion of tl~e eager multitu~e away from his real faults, smiled most complatsantly as It passed by, hopmg that, if, by approving such scattering and ineffectual efforts,. ~e could ~eep the community from organizing formidable and fatal opposttwn~ he m1ght yet be able to live on unharmed. But, no sooner was the sentiment avowed, that slavehoh.ling was not merely an evil, bu.t ~ sin, and that n_o m?n, in a.ny circumstances, could be innocent in clutttellzzmg a human bCJng, 111 ho~dmg him as an article of property, liable to be sold ~nder the hammer hk~ a beast, than Southern reviewers began to change their notes, and slavehold111g ministers to metamorphose the Bible, in order to uphold that which, but a short time before, they hated as bad as any body, and would have been glad to get rid of, but did not know how to ~orne at !t. .No_ sooner ~id the men and women, in the free states, who beheved thts pnnc1ple, begm to collect themselves together into a moral lens, that they ~ti~ht ga.ther up all the scattering light in the land, co~tc.ent~ate and pou.r ~t m an J.nce.ssant, burning stream, upon the persons hvmg m the comm1SSIOil of th1s sm, than you find the monster alarmed for his existence, floundering in the struggles of dissolving nature, foaming out his venom and spite on all who labor to bring him into the light, threatening to sever the union of the nation if this lens be not broken, lashing his minions into fury, and calling on the mob at the North, to step forward and save him, by scattering and destroying the antislavery societies, and upon the slavehold_ers in the South, to destroy, by Lynch Law, every abolitionist who goes into a Southern state. Whence all this alarm and panic? Our opponents gravely admonish us to cease agitating this subject, because we can never accomplish any thing; declaring our measures to be incapable of affecting the South, o.r of reaching the slaveholder. Sir; are these threats, struggles, and convulsions, the result of weak and inefl'ectual measures? They give the slaveholder little credit for common sense. Suppose our leading opinion were, that the moon is green cheese, or, that the earth is hollow and inhabited on the inside. Suppose we met every year, month, or week, to make out these points, and had fifty presses and twice as many agents employed in sprea~ing the opinion ? How many mobs would it raise? How many ma1L robberv associations, or Lynch committees, would be organized in the Southiru slates, to put us down and destroy our publications? Or suppose you were to come down the Delaware to this city, and, on landing, fou!ld the whole disposable force of this nation drawn up in battle order upon tis shofe. They are braced in armor to the teeth, standing with faces pale, swords drawn, bayonets fixed, muskets loaded, and cannon charged to the SPF.ECH OF Al.A.NSON ST. CLAIR. 91 muzzle. You ask the conllnantle•· wherefore this numerous gathering and these awful preparations? In reply, he points across the river to a crow sitling upon the fence, and inquirea, "Do you sec that bird?" "Yes." "Well," says he," we intend to prevent his flying into this city if we can." Would you believe it? Just as likely would you see the present indications of slaveholding preparation to defend their "peculiar institutions," or the ebullition of their wrath and fury every where exhibited, if they did not know their pet is in danger. These men are not fools, whatever may be said of their morality. You do not easily get them on a false scent, or alarm them with goblins. lf they considered our measures either ill-suited to the end they are desiunetl to attain, or impotent in themselves, instead of putting them~elves th~s on the defensive, they would bid us go onward, and laugh at our folly. Again :-whence this panic, these threats, this violence, iu the whole South? Do they fear robbery, insurrection, or invasion? Not at all. Listen to the following confessions from the most talented and eagle·eyed of their statesmt!n: "Do they {the Southerners) expect the abolitionists will resort to armswill commence a crusade to liberate our slaves by force '! • • • Let me tell our friends of the South, who differ from us, that the war which the abolitionists wage against us is of a very different character, and far more eflCc:tive; it is waged, not against our lives, but our characters."-John C. Calhoun. "We have most to fear from the effects of organized action upon the consciences and fears of the slaveholders themselves-from the insinuation of these dangerous heresies (anti-slavery sentiments) into our schools, our pulpits, and our domestic circles. We have most to fear from their gradual operation on public opinion among ourgelves. And those are the most insidious and dangerous invaders of our rights and interests, who, coming to us in the guise of friend~:~hip, endeavor to persuade us that slavery is a sin, a curse, and an evil. It is not true that the South sleeps on a volcanothat we are fearful of murder anti pillage. Our greatt.>st cause of apprehcn· sian is from the operation of the morbid sensibility, which appeals to the <·onsciences of our own people, and would make them the voluntary instruments of their own ruin," [i.e., of emancipation.J-.Duff Green. "Arc we to wait till our enemies have built up a body of public opinion against us, which it would be almost impossible to resist, without separatiu.& ourselves from the social system of the rest of the civilized world ?"-Gov. 1/amilton. "The petitions do not come to us as heretofore, single and far apart, from the quiet routine of the Society of Friends, or the obscure vanity of some philanthropic club; but they are sent to us in vast numbers from soured and agitated communities; poured in upon us from the overflowing of public sentiment, which every where in all Western Europe, and Eastern America, has been lashed into excitement on this subject. The bosom of society heaves with new and violent emotions."-Senutor Preston. " To acknowledge the right or to tolerata the act of interference at all, with this institution, is to give it up-to abandon it entirely. The South must hold this institution, not amidst alarm, and molestation, but in peace, perfect peace, from the interference or agitation of others, or, I repeat it, she will-she can, hold it not ctl all. • * * * The spirit of abolition has advanced and is advancing. It increases by opposition, it triumphs by defoat."-Robert B. Rhett. Such are some of the confessions of slaveholders themselves. Do they not clearly establish these two points? Fir~t, that our measures are the |