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Show 92 SECOND D ... Y-F.:Vlo:NINO SESSJOK, proper and only effectual ones to batter down this Bastile of slavery 1 And second, that they themselves have no apprehensions of violenc~ on the part of the abolitionists, or of insurrection from the workings of thetr measures, but simply that they fear such repentance on the part of those slaveholders who have any conscience, and such contempt and public scorn on the part of others, as will uhimately induce the whole to emancipate t.h~ir slaves? I suppose, sir, the objector has by this time lost hi8 oppostt1on ~o these measures, and is ready to take a new position; to declare himself 111 favor of the measures themselves, but opposed to our mode of applying them. "A man," he will say, "may be very sick, and in need of a physician and medicine. Another may be sent for to examine his case, and a<.lmi!lister to his wants. He may have the right medicine in his pocket; but 1f he be an ignorant quack, knows not one drug from another, and deals out opium when he ought to give rhubarb, or henbane instead of castor oil, he will be much more liliely to kill than cure his patient." Very true. An excellent comparison. I will be the quack, the objector the skilful physician, and the poor slave the sick patient. He and Island in the highway, and see the wretched creature dying of pain, writhing, struggling, and agonizing for life. He erie!:! out, u help! help! or I perish." We stand and look at each other, declaring how much we hate sickness in the abstract, and what we should be willing to do for its removal. But as to this poor sick man, before our eyeli, we forbear to move, lest we should make him sicker,-still knowing that, unless relieved in a few hours, he must certainly die. Impressed with the conviction that he will die in his pret~ent condition, I go up and give him a medicine-or attempt to give itbut my cautious neighbor cries out 11 Forbear; you do not know enough about that matter, to administer any thing to him." "'\>Vel!, doctor, won't you take him in hand? he must have help or die?" u That may be," says the good physician; "but I am not sure but he will die, if I undertake to cure him, and I have no notion of resting un'dcr the odium of a murderer." I have the same medicine he has, but he insists I shall not give the sick man a particle, because I do not know how to apply it. Is it not, then, very clear, that he is bound to take hold and aid him, if he knows, better than I, what is needed? And if it be in his power to save the man's life, and yet he refuses, is he not guilty of his death? And that a thousand times more than if he had attempted to cure him, and he had died under the operation of his medicine? Let us now apply this last illustration. The opponent believes our principles and measures are both good, but stands aloof because we do not properly apply them. Is l1e not bound, then, to step forward and make the application himself? He says we are harsh and violent in our language, and this defeats the end we labor to attain. Very well. Let him come in :and do better. We have done the best we could with the men we have had. Our cause has been extremely unpopular. The prudent, cautious, and timid, have stood aloof. None was willing to plead for the slave, unless he were a bold, headstrong man, not afraid to do it with a halter roYnd his neck, or a brickbat flying about his ears. These men are not the ones to cull the vocabulary for smooth terms, or to stop and knock the rough corners from their sentences. Had the prudent and cautious taken ~old of th~ work at the first, and given us their sympathies, counsel, and mftuence, mstead of shunning, frowning upon, and jeering us, we should probably have been saved from all the evils of which they now complain. They are still looking on with a lynx eye, observing our fauhs, writing down our mistakes, and carping at our errors. \Vhy do they not take hold and corre..ct those evils? and not be passing by on the other side, with SPEJ.:CH OF Al.ANSO~ ST. Cf .AIIt. H3 priest and T.evite indifference, while the slave is perishing for want of help ? They complain of our leaders. But we admit no leaders-we are brethren in this cause, working shoulder to shoulder. But if they will have it that there are leaders, and they dislike the direction in which they draw, let them buckle on the harness and give us a better lead ; we shall not hesitate to follow, if they lead in the way of em:mcipation. 1f they know where <lll our errors lie, are they not the very men to correct them ? ·whenee, then, this carping about men and measures? What sort of an apology will it be at the day of judgment, for having refused to open their mouths for the dumb, that they did not like the style in which the abolitionists plead their cause? Thus much for our moral machinery. Let us now take a peep at the political, which is involved in the fifth and sixth measures,-the ballot-box and petition. Against both of these, the demagogue and party politician will, no doubt, be ready to cry aloud. But, with God's blessing, we will, in a few years, make them cry the other side of their mouths. 'I'hat cry is, to my mind, proof positive that the measures are sound and well applied. Snakes do not hiss, unless ·you disturb their repose. Nor wot.lld these gentlemen, unless they saw a probability of their downy seats being upset by the antislavery car, give themselves much trouble about our measures. They need not be alarmed ; we h:1ve a large and gallant car, which will afford them all 3mple accommodation, if they will only come on board and become anti-slavery passengers. · Petition and the ballot-box are the hands on the great public clock, to show the anti-slavery time of day. Just so far as our moral measures prepare the nation for emancipation, men will be elected and Legislatures petitioned for this purpose i and when the people are but once ready to vote for such men as will go for emancipation, and to instruct them accordingly, the work will be done, and not before. It is not intended to organize a third political party. That would be suicidal to our cause. Abolitionists are but a small minority, and surh organization would only ensure defeat. But the other parties are so nearly equal, that they have a strong balance of political power in nearly all the free states. This power they arc as much bound to reserve for the slave as they are bound to be abolitionists. Like all other power and blessings, it is bestowed on them by God, and they are accountable to Him for the manner in which it is applied. If, by carrying it to the polls, they can emancipate the slave, and they refuse to do so, by that refusal they just as mu?h conni.ve at s.laveholding, as they would at arson by passiog a house, seemg the mcend1ary apply the torch, and refu sing to sound the alarm. L~t them look we!l to this subject. . Mr. V~n Buren has sworn to uphold th1s system by Ius veto power. Let abolitionists tell his party and the Whigs, i~ they expect anti-slavery votes, they must put up candidates for the presidency who are not slaveholders nor the slaveholder's swo111 minions, but high-mi.nded !llen, known to be the friends of emancipation, and ready to do all Ill the1r power to promote it. Let them pursue the same course with regard to every representative for whom they are called upon to vote; and, in less than three years, the District of Columbia and Territory of Florida will be freed from thi:s polluting institution. How else can they expect ever to complete their designs? The day of mir.acle~ is past; ours are all representative governments. every member of wh1ch IS statedly chosen by the people, knowing that he holds his office O!tl.y .at the pleasure and by the permission of the people, and that he must ret1re whenever they say the word. Such a man they have only to instruct or petition, to be heard and obliged. I know, indeed, they sometimes talk |