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Show rfheodore Parker. tho 0 who c cnpc to my O\Vn neighborhood, and I ought to do so. .1\Iy duty j!::l comm )n urate with my p~w ,~.; an ~l, a my power increa~cs, my duty ~n~arge al?n ~ w1th tt. If ~ could help the bondmen in Virgmm to thctr i rceuom a, easily and effectually a:; I can aid the runaway at my own door, then I OUGHT to do O. These fh·e maxims have a direct applieation to America at thi day, and the rwop1e of the Free States ha vc a certain dim perception thereof, which, fortunately, is becoming clearer every year. Thus, the people of .1\Ias achusctts feel that th y ought to protect the fugitiYe slaves who come into onr . tat.c. lienee come, first the irregular attempts to secure thc u· liberty, and the declarations of noule men, like Timothy Gilbert, George "\V. Carnes, and others, that they will do RO CYen at great personal ri -k ; and, secondly the statute laws made by the legislature to accomplish that end. Now, if 1\Ia ' ::;achusetts had the power to do a" much for the ::;laves in Virginia a for the runaway" in her own tcnitory, we hould . oon sec tho c two sets of measure' at work in that direction also. I find it. i · said in the Democratic new papers that "Captain Brown had many friends at the North, who sympnthizccl with him in general, and in special approved of this particular . chcme of' hi ; they furni: hcd him with some twelve or twenty thou ~and dollars, it would s 'em." I think much more than that is true of u . If he fwd :-:uccccdcd in runnin<r off one or two thou and ~lav e. to Canada, even 0 at the cxpen e of a little violence ::w<l bloodshed, tlte ma· joTity of men £n New l tngland would lwre 'rrjol·ced, not only in the End, but also in the llfeans. The fir~t ·ncccssful attempt of a con~idcrable number of slaves to . eclll'e their {i·cedom by violence will clearly ... how l10w deep is the sym· pat hy of the people for them, nnd how . trong1y they embrace the five principles I mentioned above. A little success of Theodore P arker. 77 th~t sort will serve ns p1'1"m1n:; for the popular rannon; it is alrenl1y loaded. Of cours , I was not astoni:-;hrd to hear that an attempt had been made to fcee the la,·cs in a certain part of Virginia, nor shoultl I be a~tonish d if another " insurrection" or" rebellion" took place in the State of , or a tltircl in , o1· a fourth in Such thing' a rc to be expected; for they (1o not depend merely on the pri\':l.tc will of men like Captain Brown and hi~ assoeiat<'s, but on th<' gr 'at Gcn('ral Cause::3 which move all lnnnan kind to hate \Vrong and Jove Ri ght. Such " insun 'Ct ion , " will continue a long a · lavery lasts, and will increase, both in frequcn ·y and in power, just as the people become intrlligcnt and moral. Virginia HlfiY ]tang John Brown mHl a1l th:tt f~uni ly, but ~ h e cannot hang the li U:\TAN RACE ; anll: until that i~ donr, noble men will r ejoice in the motto of that once magnanimous State" St'c semper 1y1·anm's ! " "Let uch be the end of every opprcs or." It i · a good Anti-SiaYery picture on the Virginia . hi 'lu : n. man standing on a tyrant and chopping his head off' with a sword; only I would pain t the , word-holder blur/.; n.nrl the tyrant 'lohite, to . how the immedL'ate rrpJ>Ucatiun of' the principle. The American people will have to march to rather fiCvcrc mui-'ic, I th ink, and it is better for th<.•m to fa<'c it in sea~on. A few yean ago it did not seem difTicu It fir:-;t to check Slavery, and then to end it without any bloodshed. I think this cannot be done now, nor ever in the future. All the great chartm·s of ll u~rA N I TY have been wri t in bloou. I once hoped that of American Democra<!y would be engros. ed in lc ', co:-;t ly ink; but it is plain, now, that om· pilgrimngc must lead through tt Red Sen, wherein many a l>Jwraoh will go uuu•!r and p ' ri ~h. Alas ! thn.t we arc not wise enough to ue just, or just enough to uc wisr, ancl so gain much at small co~t! Look, now, at a few notorious f~wts: 7-:{- |
