To the Editors of the North Star:
Gentlemen:—In the revolutions passed at the Yearly Anti-Slavery Meeting, held on Sunday, December 19th, in Minerva Hall and published in the North Star of Jan. 7th, there is one that particularly attracts my attention: not only on account of its intrinsic importance, but also on account of a circumstance which occurred at the time. It appears as the first resolution which was offered for the opinion of that meeting, and is a follows:
Resolved, That in assembling on this day for the purpose of lifting up our voice in behalf of the oppressed and plundered fellow countrymen, we but follow in the footsteps of Him who has said, "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day."
That resolution appears to me important, because if the principle propounded in it be carried out, it opens up the whole question of slavery, as well as, I had almost said, the more important one of practical religion; tho' if both these questions be pursued to legitimate results, we shall find that they are only parts of the same subject. Living as we do, in the middle of the 19th century of the Christian era, it would appear at first sight almost preposterous to offer such a resolution, for the acceptance of so enlightened an audience.—But on the other hand, when we look around us, and perceive the superb and aristocratic establishments, called churches, with their stately architecture, their splendid ornaments and cushioned seats, denoting their relationship to the ritual ordinances of a former dispensation, we admit at once the appositeness of the resolution. The Great Master, at whose death the veil of the temple was rent, and who, as far as He was concerned, withdrew "the veil that was spread over all nations," sufficiently explained his mission, to leave no doubt upon the minds of the pure and simple-hearted, as to the true meaning and intents of His doctrine. But there was then, as now, another class of individuals who claimed to be preeminently the righteous; and although he sufficiently unmasked these hypocritical pretensions of superior purity, and denounced them in the plainest and strongest terms, we find at the present time the same love of outward show, the same attention to mere ceremony, the same "making clean of the outside of the cup and of the platter;" the same paying tithe of mint, and annise, and cummin; and of omitting the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; the same making of hypocritical long prayers and sad countenances, and of disfiguring of faces, "that they may appear unto men to fast," instead of the pure and noble ethics promulgated by Jesus Christ: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Although the Mosaic law contained the same sublime sentiment, it was necessarily in a more diffused form, and scattered among a variety of other precepts equally important at that period: "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor." "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man." "The stranger that dwelled with you shall be unto you as one born amongst you, had thou shalt love him as thyself." These precepts are only so many parts of the same principle of equity and love; but for the time being it was necessary that they should be enshrouded and interwoven with a variety of outward forms and ceremonies. This circumstance becomes self-evident when we take into consideration the ignorant and benighted condition of the surrounding nations; their superstitition; their idolatrous, lascivious, and cruel practices, and withal the general tendency of the unguided passions of man to induce him to gratify his sensuality and pride, made it necessary to observe strictly the outward forms and ceremonies of the law, until its inward principles were sufficiently engrafted upon the mind of man to prepare him for the more sublime doctrines of Jesus. It is not, under these circumstances, to be wondered at that the inherent ignorance and selfishness of our race, should induce the greatest portion of the Jews, as well as of other nations, to place their chief dependance for their acceptance with the Deity upon these outward forms and ceremonies. This was especially the case with the Pharisees at the advent of the Saviour. It appears that they wore garments of a peculiar shape, and bandages, with impressive mottoes, or sentences of scriptures written upon them: they were in the habit of ostentatiously giving alms to the poor, and making long prayers at the corners of the streets, "that they might be seen of men," and also of observing, very minutely every punctilio of the ritual law, as well as the traditions added to it by their over-zealous predecessors. And while they made this parade of the ceremonial and outward forms of religion, assuming that they were so much more righteous than others, they were guilty of the most grievous oppression and wickedness. We can hardly fail to recognize the wonderful resemblance in the position of the church of the present day to that we have described above. And when we look at the Great Harlot, and all her daughters, and remember that John told us that Anti-Christ was already in the world, we are impressed with the necessity of exposing this foul hypocrisy, this "gaping at a gnat and swallowing a came1." If Antichrist was then in the world was it not that dependence upon forms and ceremonies, instead of "the righteousness of the law?" that grasping at the shadow, and suffering the substance to escape, which St. Paul was continually combatting? (Rom. viii. 4: Gal. iii. 2: Col. ii. 17.) Suppose we admit, for argument's sake, the dogmas of the (so called) orthodox church there to be true; is there any man, at the present day, insane enough to believe that his attendance upon its outward ordinances, and his pretended belief in these dogmas will procure for him everlasting beatitude, when it shall please God to call him from this sphere of action? or is the church a ponderous political machine, got up, and kept up, for the purpose or covering up and concealing the blackest of crimes, under the specious mask of the religion on the meek and lowly Jesus.
I could almost wish to leave this question to be answered by those whom it most concerns; but actions speak louder than words. If we follow the course of this pretended church of Christ, from the age of the apostles downwards, we shall find its track so deeply marked in blood, that it has excited the deepest detestation to every liberal mind in every age. We have seen the superstition and persecutions of the Romish Church produce her own downfall, though yet she thinks she is no widow, by forcing half Europe into open infidelity and atheism. We have seen her oldest daughter, the Protestant Church of England, following so closely in her footsteps, until, according to statistical writers, three-fourths of her people are either citizens or dissenters, and many of her wealthiest citizens have been obliged to seek an asylum from her persecutions in this land of freedom (?) And what shall we say of this nondescript, many-headed monster, which has taken to itself the name of the Church of Christ in free America. Are the skirts of her garments free from blood? Let the present condition of the colored people in this country, and her silence, even in the northern states, upon the monstruous sin of slavery, answer; while in the southern states she is rhe open abettor of the crime: that crime which, as my friend Douglass truly said, included all others in the decalogue. Such gentlemen, are some of the circumstances which rendered the proposing of such a resolution necessary, as appears at the head of this communication, which, with your permission, I will take an opportunity to discuss in a future number.
RICHARD SULLEY.
SELECTIONS.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
We most sincerely rejoice, as will every friend of God and liberty, and as would every fettered bondman in this slaveholding republic, could they hear the glad tidings, that health, through a bountiful providence has been restored to William Lloyd Garrison, and that he is again in the field, at the head of his storm--beaten sheet, the Liberator. Seventeen-years of cloudy days and dreary nights have rolled away, since all alone, with powerful hand and dauntless heart he launched his bark upon the menacing billows of our pro-slavery public opinion. Under his broad banner of immediate, unconditional and everlasting emancipation, many essayed to follow, but like a disciple of old, some, alas! too many, have found their fears greater than their faith, and they have sunk to rise no more. Of these however, we mean not to speak.
Garrison is again in the field, and in the thickest of the battle,
Under the sooty flag of Slavery."
May God grant him continued life and health, till he shall see the travail of his noble soul—"when the sighing of the poor, and the crying of the needy" shall have forever ceased throughout our slave cursed land!
We copy, with ineffable pleasure, his first words on resuming his editorial duties:
In resuming the editorial pen, after so long an absence from my post, my first duty is to express to my numerous friends, on both sides of the Atlantic, the deep gratitude of my heart for the lively solicitude which they manifested during my severe illness at the West, and the warm congratulations which they have since offered on my recovery. Such demonstrations of affection and confidence would more than counterbalance a century of abuse and persecution on the part of the enemies of God and man. The earnest hope that I might survive this powerful attack of disease has been based on the expectation, that if my life should be spared, I would consecrate it anew to the cause of suffering humanity—to the overthrow of all forms of despotism, whether spiritual or corporeal—to the promotion of peace and liberty throughout the world. That expectation I hope never to disappoint. It shall be to me a trumpet-call to the field of moral conflict, inspiriting me to higher and better efforts to promote the welfare of my race—to reunite forever the broken ties of human brotherhood. It is extremely painful to be impotent in such a field, or absent from it, even for an hour. How much remains to be done! How swarm the foes of liberty and equality! How numerous are their banners, how extended their ranks, how malevolent their purposes! Over what continent, kingdom, people or tribe, do they-not hold mastery? What vigilance and determination, what energy and enterprise, do they not exhibit! What resources, inventions, machinations, are theirs! They rule with a red of iron. Though they cause human blood to flow like water, it does not satiate their appetite; though they have obtained universal conquest, they sigh for another world to subjugate. But—as sure as light is more pleasant than darkness, and truth is stronger than falsehood—they are yet to be put to flight, and their reign of cruelty is to terminate. Their weapons are those of the coward, the suicide, the assassin: such cannot always prosper. Their courage is only beastly: it has no moral quality; and in conflict with spiritual heroism, it quickly becomes pusillanimous. Their power is only an aggregation of self-destructive materials, and constantly exposed to spontaneous combustion. One brave, disinterested, world-wide spirit, whose faith is an eternity of steadfastness, and whose love is God-inspired, can carry dismay through all their ranks. It is only for "the sacramental host of God's elect" to be up and doing, in a spirit worthy of their cause and profession, to usher in that glorious day when the great human family, now isolated and hostile,
"Like kindred drops, shall mingle into one."
Having been so long out of the conflict, some time must elapse before I can wear my armor easily, and vigorously wield the weapons of Reform. I still feel, both mentally and physically, the effects of my recent illness, and must proceed in my labors with much circumspection, lest by too great mental excitement, a relapse ensue, and my last condition be worse than the first. Asking the indulgence of all who feel an interest in the character of the Liberator, and who desire to see it kept "a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well," I shall aim to infuse into its columns noble thoughts, great sentiments, and glorious conceptions, such as the teeming mind of awakened Humanity may place within my reach.
From the Liberty Bell of 1848.
BIBLES FOR THE SLAVES.
by Frederick Douglass.
The above is a watchword of a recent but quite numerous class of persons, whose ostensible object seems to be, to give Bibles to the American Slaves. They propose to induce the public to give of their abundance, a large sum of money, to be placed in the hands of the American Bible Society, to be employed in purchasing Bibles and distributing them among the slaves. In this apparently benevolent and Chistian movement, they desire to unite all persons friendly to the long imbruted and long neglected slave. The religious press have already spoken out in its favor. So full of promise and popularity is this movement, that many of the leaders in church and State are pressing into it; churches which have all along slumbered unmoved over the cruel wrongs and bitter woes of the slave, which have been as deaf as death to every appeal of the fettered bondman for liberty, are at last startled from their heartless stupor by this new cry of Bibles for the Slaves. Ministers of religion and learned Doctors of Divinity, who would not lift a finger to give the stave to himself, are now engaged in the professed work of giving to the Slave the Bible. Into this enterprise have been drawn some who have been known as advocates for emancipation.
One Anti-Slavery Editor, has abandoned his position at the head of a widely circulating Journal, and has gone forth to lecture and solicit donations in its behalf. Even the American Bible Society, which a few years ago peremptorily refused to entertain the offensive subject, and refused the offer of ten thousand dollars, has at last relented if not repented, and now condescends to receive money for this object. To be sure we have had no public assurance of this from that society. It is, however, generally inferred by the friends of the movement, that they will consent to receive money for this purpose. Now what does all this mean? Are the men engaged in this movement sane? and if so, can they be honest? Do they seriously believe that the American slave can receive the Bible? Do they believe that the American Bible Society cares one straw about giving Bibles to the slave? Do they suppose that slaveholders in open violation of their wicked laws, will allow their slaves to have the Bible? How do they mean to get the Bible among the slaves? It cannot go itself—it must be carried. And who among them all, has either the faith or the folly to undertake the distribution of Bibles among the slaves?
Then again, of what value is the Bible to one who may not read its contents? Do they intend to send teachers into the slave States, with the Bibles, to teach the slaves to read them? Do they believe that on giving the Bible, the unlettered slave, will all at once, by some miraculous transformation, become a man of letters and be able to read the sacred Scriptures 7 Will they first obtain the slaveholders consent, or will they proceed without it? And if the former, by what means will they seek it? And if the latter, what success do they expect? Upon these points, and many others, the public ought to be enlightened, before they are called upon to give money and influence to such an enterprize.
As a mere indication of the growing influence of anti-slavery sentiment, this movement may be regarded by the Abolitionists with some complacency; but as a means of abolishing the slave system of America, it seems to me a sham, a delusion, and a snare, and cannot be too soon exposed before all the people. It is but another illustration of the folly of putting new cloth into an old garment, and new wine into old bottles.
The Bible is peculiarly the companion of liberty; it belongs to a new order of things: slavery is of the old; and will only be made worse by any attempt to mend it with the Bible. The Bible is only useful to those who can read and practise its contents. It was given to freemen, and any attempt to give it to the slave must result only in hollow mockery.
Give Bibles to the poor slaves! It sounds well; it looks well; it wears a religious aspect; it is a Protestant rebuke to the Pope, and seems in harmony with the purely evangelical character of the great American people. It may fortell some movement in England to give Bibles to our slaves—and this is very desirable. Now admitting (however difficult it may be to do so) the entire honesty of all engaged in this movement—the immediate and only effect of their effort must be to turn off attention from the main and momentous question connected with the slave, and absorb energies and money in giving to him the Bible, that ought to be used in giving him to himself.
The slave is property. He cannot hold property. He cannot own a Bible. To give him a Bible, is but to give his master a Bible. The slave is a thing—and it is the all-commanding duty of the American people to make him a man.
To demand this in the name of humanity, and of God, is the solemn duty of every living soul. To demand less than this, or anything else than this, is to deceive the fettered bondman, and to soothe the conscience of the slaveholder on the very point where he should be most stung with remorse and shame. A way with all tampering with such a question! Away with all trifling with the man in fetters! Give a hungry man a stone, and tell him what beautiful houses are made of it; give ice to a freezing man, and tell him of its good properties in hot weather; throw a drowning man a dollar, as a mark of your good will; but do not mock the bondman in his misery, by giving him a Bible, when he cannot read it!
Rochester, New York.
From the Liberator.
REVEREND RASCALITY.
All abolitionists who are old enough to remember the early days of the cause, recollect the Rev. Ezra Styles Ely, D.D., and his man Ambrose. If their memory extend a little farther back, and they had the good luck to have been brought up in an 'evangelical' school, (a training very necessary to the understanding of the ins and outs of the anti-slavery cause, especially about the days of the new organization,) they know that the said Doctor was a burning and a shining light, set in a golden candlestick of the church, a great revivalist and saver of souls by the wholesale. We remember that at Andover, where, after the most straitest sect of our religion we were brought up, it used to be said of him that he was in the habit of swearing, (whether in the pulpit or not we cannot say,) and justified himself by the example of Whitfield. However, we were then, and have been since, as long as we were addicted to the vice of going to meeting, in the habit of hearing so much more profane language in the meeting-house than in the street, that we think none the worse of him for that. Had he clothed himself in no worse garments than curses, it would have been the better for him, as well as for poor Ambrose and the orphan daughter of his friend, as shall he presently related.
The Doctor, among other eminent gifts and graces, possessed in a high degree one of the choicest elements of modern saintship,—to wit, he was, or was reputed to be, very rich. For, luckily, it is not in these days, as it was in the semi-barbarous ones, when it was said, that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, the turnpikes and travelling expenses along the strait and narrow rood are so much greater now than they were then, that none but a tolerably warm man has much chance of getting there at all. But rich as he was, the Doctor had the humility to think that this was one of the graces of his Christian character, which might be increased to advantage, and so he plunged into the speculations of our South Sea days, in 1835–6. At that time Providence had cast his lot, (we believe we speak the language correctly,) for some wise purpose, in one of the slave States,—Tennessee, we believe. It did seem, at one time, as if the object Providence had in view, in this dispensation, was, to show that slaves could be held for their own good. For then it was that Dr. Ely bought his slave Ambrose, from pure motives of humanity, and to prevent him from falling into worse hands. The praise of the Doctor was in all the churches: for at that time the laboring point with the pro-slavery piety of the land was, to show that slaveholding was not sinful, because slaves might be held "for their own good." And here was a case in point. Happy Dr. Ely, who was raised up to settle this nice point in theology forever! Happier Ambrose, who was the chosen vessel of this great salvation!
But, unluckily for the peace of our pro-slavery Zion, the bubble burst, and the speculators found themselves in the suds. It broke, after leading the whole people a weary way, as it danced with its rainbow hues before them leaving nothing but the empty breath and foul water, of which it was composed. All King Biddle's puffing only increased its tenuity with its size, and made its bursting the worse, if not the sooner. It was in vain that he saw, "in clear dream and solemn vision," the Presidential chair before him, with a ladder of cotton bags leading up thereunto, and he himself placed therein as the saviour of the south, and so of the country. It was a lie and a delusion all. Ruin spread over the south as well as over the north, and the United States Bank broke like a rotten stick (as it was) when interposed to check its progress. Among the rest, Dr. Ely became bankrupt, in company with many better men, and perhaps, with some no worse than himself. His lands, hereditaments and personality, were dispersed under the hammer. Among his other chattels personal, household stuff, mules, asses, and farming utensils, poor Ambrose was sold to the highest bidder, and was despatched to be grown into cotton or ground into sugar, in Alabama, Louisiana, or the Lord knows where. And thus this beautiful demonstration of the curious problem of the holding of slaves for their own good was broken off in the middle! Truly, mysterious are the ways of Providence!
But it has lately evolved how it was that he got the means for carrying on these speculations. It appears, from a report of a decision in the Court of Common Pleas, in Philadelphia, that in 1822 Dr. Ely was made trustee under the will of Samuel Carswell, of an estate consisting of three hundred shares in the United States Bank, worth about $40,800. After a few months he transferred all this property from himself as trustee to himself individually. In 1835, he borrowed $50,000 on his own private account, of the Bank of the United States, pledging these three hundred shares, standing in his own name, but rightfully belonging to Miss Carswell, (of whom he was the guardian, as well as the trustee,) as collateral security. At the maturity of his indebtedness, in 1837, not being able to meet it, two hundred and fifty of the three hundred shares were sold to cover it. In 1843, Miss Carswell married, and her reverend guardian was called upon to render an account of his stewardship; whereupon, he proposes to pass over to her, for her property which had been sold, two hundred and fifty shares of the United States Bank, then worth about six dollars a share; they having been worth about $l30 a share when he hypothecated them. In other words, he offered to give his ward about $1500 for property for which he had himself received about $32,500. This modest proposal being declined, and the matter coming before the Orphan's court, a decree was entered against Dr. Ely for about $50,000, upon which he applies to the Common Pleas for the benefit of the Insolvent law. The fact of the embezzlement was not denied, but it was contended that it having been committed before the law, excepting such malefactors from the benefit of the Insolvent act, and subjecting them to condign punishment, was passed, he was not affected by it,—and, further, that a trustee is not a 'bailee, agent, or depositary,' mentioned in the act. The Court decided in the Doctor's favor, on the first ground. So that he is now white-washed, (a "whited sepulchre," we fear he always was,) and is in a condition to take charge of anybody else's money, that may be fool enough to trust him.
Now we are a little curious to know how this development will affect the standing of this holy man in the church. We should like to know, for instance if this reverend rascal, this solemn swindler, should come to Boston, as a minister of the gospel, whether there would be a single orthodox congregation or other evangelical pulpit closed against him on account of its dishonesty. We do not think that there would be. We are sure that there ought not to be; for we know that there is not one (at least of consequence enough to be seen,) that would shut its pulpit doors against him because he cheated poor Ambrose out of his body and soul, or if he had done it to five hundred like him. It was a serious thing, no doubt, to Dr. Ely's ward to find her portion devoured up by a dishonest guardian; but it was a much more serious thing to his slave to be himself devoured up bodily. But if the one should excite a transient feeling in the American church universal, the other will scarcely stir a holy muscle. There are hundreds and thousands of ministers who are continually guilty of greater and worst dishonesty than Dr. Ely in this instance, who are still welcome in all northern pulpits, and predominate in all national sectarian conventions, assemblies, and conferences;—worse and greater dishonesty, because they rob their victims not only of all that they possess or can acquire, but of themselves; and strip them of all hope, of all resistance, of all redress. We will not, then, be too severe on the Boston ministers, if, in the total confusion and dissolution of common morality which Slavery has produced, they should give to Dr. Ely, who comes to them, smacking his lips over the portion of the orphan committed to him, the same right hand of fellowship that they extend to the Reverend cannibals gorged with human flesh,—fed fat with "slaves and souls of men."—q.
From Parker's Letter on Slavery.
STATISTICS AND HISTORY OF SLAVERY.
I will first call year attention to the history and statistics of slavery. Is 1790, there were but 697,897 slaves in the Union; in 1840, 2,487,355. At the present day, their number probably is not far from 3,000,000. In 1790, Mr. Gerry estimated their value at $10,000,000; in 1840, Mr. Clay fixed it at $1,200,000,000. They are owned by a population of perhaps about 300,000 persons, and represented by about 100,000 voters.
At the time of the Declaration of Independence, slavery existed in all the States; it gradually receded from the North. In the religious colonies of New England it was always unpopular and odious. It was there seen and felt to be utterly inconsistent with the ideas and spirit of their institutions, their churches, and their state itself. After the revolution, therefore, it speedily disappeared; here perishing by default, there abolished by statute. Thus it successively disappeared from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. By the celebrated ordinance of 1787, involuntary servitude, except as a punishment, after legal conviction of crime, was forever prohibited in the Northwest Territory. Thus the new states, formed in the western parallels, were, by the action of the federal government, at once cut off from that institution. Besides, they were mainly settled by men from the Eastern States, who had neither habits nor principles which favored slavery. Thus Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa have been without any legal slaves from the beginning.
In the South, the character of the people was different; their manners, their social and political ideas, were unlike those of the North. The Southern States were mainly colonies of adventurers, rather than establishments of men who for conscience sake fled to the wilderness. Less pains were taken with the education—intellectual, moral and religious—of the people. Religion never held so prominent a place in the consciousness of the mass as in the sterner and more austere colonies of the North. In the Southern States—New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia—slavery easily found a footing at an early day. It was not at all repulsive to the ideas, the institutions and habits of Georgia and South Carolina. The other Southern States protested against it; they never.
Consequences follow causes; it is not easy to avoid the results of a first principle. The Northern States, in all their constitutions and social structures, consistently and continually tend to democracy—the government of all, for all, and by all; to equality before the state and its laws; to moral and political ideas of universal application. In the meantime, the Southern States, in their constitutions and social structure, as consistently tend to oligarchy—the government over all, by a few, and for the sake of that few; to privilege, favoritism and class legislation; to conventional limitations; to the rule of force, and inequality before the law. In such a state of things, when slavery comes, it is welcome, In 1787, South Carolina and Georgia refused to accept the federal constitution, unless the right of importing slaves was guaranteed to them for twenty years. The new states formed in the southern parallels—Kentucky Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi—retaining the ideas and habits of their parents, kept also the institution of slavery.
At the time of forming the Federal Constitution, some of the Southern statesmen were hostile to slavery, and would gladly have got rid of it. Economical considerations prevailed in part, but political and moral objections to it extended yet more widely. The ordinance of 1787, the work mainly of the same man who drafted the Declaration of Independence, passed with little opposition. The proviso for surrendering fugitive slaves came from a Northern hand. Subsequently, opposition to slavery in the North and the South, became less. The culture of cotton, the wars in Europe creating a demand for the productions of American agriculture, had rendered slave labor more valuable. The day of our own oppression was more distant and forgotten. So in 1802, when Congress purchased from Georgia the western part of her territory, it was easy for the South to extend slavery over that virgin soil. In 1803, Louisiana was purchased from France; then, or in 1804, when it was organized into two Territories, it would have been easy to apply the ordinance of 1787, and prevent slavery from extending beyond the original thirteen States. But though some provisions restricting slavery were made, the ideas of that ordinance were forgotten. Since that time, five new States have been formed out of territory acquired since the revolution: Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, all slave States—the last two with Constitutions aiming to make slavery perpetual. The last of these was added to the Union on the 22d of December, 1845, two hundred and twenty-five years after the day when the Forefathers first set foot on Plymouth Rock; while the sons of the Pilgrims were eating and drinking and making merry, the deed of annexation was completed, and slavery extended over nearly 400,000 square miles of new territory, whence the semi-barbarous Mexicans had driven it out.
Slavery might easily have been abolished at the time of the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, in 1774, the Continental Congress, in their celebrated "non-importation agreement," resolved never to import or purchase any slaves after the last of December, in that year. In 1775, they declare in a "report" that it is not possible "for men who exercise thelf reason to believe that the Divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute property in an unbounded power over others." Indeed, the Declaration itself is a denial of the national right to allow the existence of slavery: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are [the right to] life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
But the original draft of this paper combined a condemnation yet more explicit: "He [the King of England] has waged cruel war against human nature itself: violating most sacred rights of life and liberty is the persons of a distant people who never offended him; captivating and carrying them into slavery. Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce." This clause, says its author himself, "was struck out in compliance to South Carolina and Georgia, who never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it. Our Northern brethren also, I believe, felt a little tender under these censures; for though their people have very few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them to others."
These were not the sentiment of a single enthusiastic young Republican. Dr. Rush, in the Continental Congress, wished "the Colonies to discourage slavery, and encourage the increase of the free inhabitants." Another member of the American Congress declared, in 1779, "Men are by nature free;" "the right to be free can never be alienated." In 1776, Dr. Hopkins, the head of the New England divines, declared that "Slavery is, in every instance, wrong, unrighteous, and oppressive; a very great and crying sin."
In the articles of Confederation, adopted in 1778, no provision is made for the support of slavery; none for the delivery of fugitives. Slavery is not once referred to in that document. The General Government had nothing to do with it. "If any slave elopes to those States where slaves are free," said Mr. Madison in 1787, "he becomes emancipated by their laws."
[to be continued.]
MISCELLANEOUS.
An Indian a Free Person of Color.—It has been decided in one of the Courts of Charleston, that a person of free Indian descent, unmixed with negro blood, is a free person of color, and therefore an incompetent witness. This decision is in opposition to the practice which has hitherto obtained in the courts of South Carolina; free Indians and the descendants of free Indians, in amity with the State, having been always regarded as competent witnesses of the superior courts.
Mineral Discovery.—An extraordinary mineral, pronounced by geologists to be pure tripoli, has been discovered in this country, and is now being manufactured by a company formed for that purpose. For cleaning the surface of glass, or removing the oxide from metals, it is certainly without an equal. Windows can be cleansed with this article with one half the labor that is required with water, and the work is done much more effectually.
Chinese Physician.—The Spanish government have recently imported into Havanna some 500 expatriated Chinese, to work as negroes. Among them is a physician who judges of disease solely by the pulse. Such is said to be the practice of the family in the "central flowery land," they feeling the pulse in the temporal artery, in the wrist and ankle The governor of Cuba gave him a license to practice, and he has been doing an immense business. Every one pays $2 who even enters his house, and on some days he takes nearly $200.
Afraid to Learn.—It is related that Galileo, who invented the telescope with which he observed he satellites of Jupiter, invited a man who was opposed to him to look through it, that he might observe Jupiter's moons. The man positively refused, saying, "If I should see them, how could I maintain my opinions which I have advanced against your philosophy?"
This is the case with many; they will no hear truth, for fear that the arguments which they have framed will be destroyed, and they may be obliged to give up their vicious indulgences.
A Word.—Say not a word you had better leave unsaid. A word is a little thing, we know, but it has stirred up a world of strife, Suppressing a word has saved many a character—many a life. A word unuttered, and Hamilton would have lived the pride of his country. Who can tell the good or bad effects of a single word? Be careful what you say. Think before you speak, and you will never be mortified with yourself, or cause a thrill of pain to flash through the heart of a friend.—Albany Knickerbocker.
Negro Ambassadors at the Court of France.—Messrs. Ardonia and Delva, men of color, presented to Louis Philippe, the the King of the French, on the 19th October letters accrediting them as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary of the republic of Hayti to France, for the exchange of ratification of the convention of 15th May last.
Post and Willis, Dealers in Drugs, Medicines, Chemicals, Dye Stuffs, Paints, Varnish, Oils, Glassware, Brushes, Perfumery, Daguerreotype, Stock, French and German Chemicals, Artists' Colors, Brushes and Canvass, Etherial Oil, Gold Leaf and Foil, &c. &c.
Being Agents for most of the celebrated Family and valuable Patent Medicines, and receiving the same directly from the Manufacturers or their Agents, they are enabled to supply all orders at wholesale and retail, on the most favorable terms.
Homœopathic Books, Medicines, and Family Cases, with full directions. Only agents for Western New York.
Also, Sherwood's Vibratory Magnetic Machines, with directions.
Phosgene Gas; also Etherial Oil and Lamps, for burning the same. Those who would consult economy and convenience are invited to examine these Lamps. The attention of Country Merchants, Physicians, Families, and others, wishing goods in the above line, is requested at the APOTHECARIES' HALL, 4, Exchange Street.
UNIVERSE COOKING STOVES.
The Subscribers are manufacturing this invaluable Cooking Stove, designed for Coal or Wood, warranted to excel any other stove ever invented, and constructed strictly upon philosophical principles. The Oven heated by hot air, (the only hot air oven ever patented,) and warranted to bake as well as any brick oven. For sale only by the undersigned, wholesale and retail, 34, Exchange Street. H. BUSH & CO.
OWEN MORRIS' CITY BINDERY,
under the Museum—late Fisher & Morris.
Mr. Morris was in the employ of Mr. Marcus Morse for seven years, and during that time procured for him three Silver Medals, for the best specimens of Book Binding, exhibited at Mechanics' Fairs held in this city and Buffalo.
Gentlemen's Libraries fitted up and repaired; Music Paper ruled; Music and Periodicals bound and finished to any pattern. Blank Account Books executed at this establishment have given unequalled satisfaction, by their durability and elegance. Strict attention is always paid to the quality of paper used, to render them equal to the best of the United States or those imported.
Ladies' Scrap and Guard Books, Albums and Portfolios, in all their varieties, manufactured to order in the best style.
Banks, Institutions, Societies, &c., may be assured of work being done on the most advantageous terms.
Gentlemen residing at a distance, by packing and forwarding volumes to the above directives, stating price and style, may rely upon their being well bound on the most favorable terms, also carefully and punctually returned.
N.B. The proprietor has spared no expense to fitting up the establishment, and introducing into Western New York the latest improvements in Book Binding.
OWEN MORRIS,
City Bindery, under the Museum.
BOSTON ADVERTISEMENTS.
CLARKSON,
LONDON EDITION—WITH PORTRAIT.
A few copies of CLARKSON'S HISTORY OF THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE, with prefatory remarks on the subsequent abolition of Slavery; a beautiful London edition, with a fine Portrait of the Author, done on steel,—a book which could not be imported for less than three dollars, can be had at 21, Cornhill, if applied for immediately, at the very low price of One Dollar, cash. Also, EULOGIUM ON CLARKSON, by Alexander Crummell, at the reduced price of twelve and a half cents.
RObert Morris, Jr., Attorney and Counsellor at Law, Brazer's Building, State Street.
Joseph H. Turpin would invite the attention of his friends and the public to his DAGUERRIAN GALLERY, No. 138, Hanover Street, where he pledges himself to execute Miniatures with a lifelike finish, and on as moderate terms as any others in the profession.
Macon B. Allen, Attorney and Counsellor at at Law, Massachusetts Block.
BOYS' CLOTHING.
Samuel Wilson, 14, Brattle Street, having made recent additions to his stock, is prepared to furnish Boys' Clothing, of as material and fit, and at as cheap prices, as can be obtained in the city.
NEW ENGLAND SECOND HAND CLOTHING STORE,
No. 56, Union Street, Boston.
John Wright keeps constantly on hand a great variety of New and Second Hand Clothing. Goods of all kinds, such as old clothes, W. I. goods, Watches, Boots and Shoes, &c., exchanged for new clothing. Cash advanced on all kinds of goods, from one to one hundred dollars.
John D. Revaleon, Hair Cutting Saloon, and Perfumery Emporium, 114, Blackstone-st.
NEW YORK ADVERTISEMENTS
DR. J. M'Cune Smith, 93, West Broadway.
T. Jinnings, Surgeon-Dentist, 185, North Broadway.
Philip A. White, Druggist, corner of Frankfort and Gold Street.
William S. Powell, Sailor's Home, 61, Cherry Street.
Willlam rich, Hair Dressing and Bathing Saloon, Troy House, Troy, New York.
NORTHAMPTON WATER CURE.
The undersigned, gratefully appreciating the credit generously awarded by a discerning public to his success as a Hydropathic Practitioner, would respectfully inform the friends of Hydropathy, that his establishment is pleasantly situated near Bensonville, on the west bank of the Licking Water, or Mill River, about two and a half miles from the centre of the town. It is thirty-six by seventy first; three stories high, with a piazza on the south side. There are separate parlors, bathing and dressing rooms, for ladies and gentlemen. There are also twenty lodging rooms, each of which is well ventilated and conveniently furnished for the accommodation of two persons. Among the variety of baths in the establishment are, the plunge, douche, drencher, and spray baths. The ladies' plunge is six by ten feet, three and a half deep; the gentlemen's, eight by twelve, three and a half deep. There are also two cold douches, one of which is situated a mile, and the other half a mile from the establishment. The former has a fall of twenty-two feet, the latter eighteen. The scenery in this vicinity is picturesque and romantic. There are a variety of pleasant walks passing near and to springs of pure water. The walks are sufficiently retired to allow water-cure patients to appear as they should, plainly dressed, enjoying their rambles, without being exposed to public gaze or observation. Since daily experience, for the last three years, has strengthened his opinion, that the condition of the skin clearly indicates the character of many diseases, and the ability of inability of an invalid to bear the water treatment in its various forms; also the necessity of applying the dry woollen blanket, or the wet sheet, to promote evaporation or a sweat, when either may be necessary; and from results which have attended his application of the treatment, he hesitates not to say, that the electric symptom of the skin indicates vitality or power, and that an invalid, whose skin is not attended with this symptom, cannot be safely or successfully treated with water. Among the complaints which are here successfully treated, are pulmonary affection, liver complaints, jaundice, acute or chronic inflammation of the bowels, piles, dyspepsia, general debility, nervous and spinal affections, inflammatory or chronic rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame limbs, paralysis, fevers, salt rheum, scrofulous and erysipelas humors.
All patients who visit this establishment for a course of treatment, should furnish themselves with three comfortables, three woollen blankets, one linen and three cotton sheets, two pillow cases, six crash towels, some well worn linen, to cut for fomentations, an old cloak or mantle, and a syringe.[1]
Terms for treatment and board are $5 50 per week, for those who occupy rooms on the third floor; on the first and second floors, $6 00 per week, payable weekly; washing extra. A patient, who, from choice or necessity, occupies a room alone, on the third floor, will pay $8 00 per week; on the first and second floors, $8 50 per week. Invalids who are so feeble as to need extra attention and fire in their rooms, (except for swathing purposes,) will procure their own nurses and fuel, or pay an extra price.
Northampton, Aug. 1847.
N.B. The afflicted, desirous of being examined in regard to their complaints, and of ascertaining the adaptedness of the water-cure in their particular case, should call on Tuesdays and Fridays.
- ↑ This instrument may be obtained at the establishment.
William B. Logan, Dealer in Fashionable Boots and Shoes, 80, Purchase Street, New Bedford.
W. B. L. keeps constantly on hand a good assortment, and will sell cheap for cash. Strict attention paid to custom-made work, by Messrs. Parker and Davis.
Washington's Daguerrian Gallery, 138, Main Street, Kellog's Buildings, Harford, Connecticut.
THE NATIONAL ERA: Washington City, District of Columbia. G. Bailey, Editor; John G. Whittier, Corresponding Editor. L. P. Noble, Publisher.
The leading purpose of this journal is, the discussion of the question of Slavery, and the advocacy of the main principles of the Liberty Party. Due attention is given to Social and Political questions of general importance; nor are the interests of a pure Literature overlooked.
It aims to preserve a faithful record of important events; of inventions or discoveries affecting the progress of society; of public documents of permanent value; and, during the sessions of Congress, to present such reports of its proceedings, as will convey a correct idea not only of its action, but of its spirit and policy. The debates on the exciting subjects of Slavery and the Mexican War, expected to arise in the next Congress, will occupy a large share of its columns.
Arrangements have been made for extending and enriching its already valuable department of home and foreign correspondence.
It is printed on a mammoth sheet, of the finest quality, in the best style, at $2 a year, payable in advance.
The generous spirit in which the Era has been welcomed by the public press, and the very liberal patronage it has received during this, the first year of its existence, encourages us to hope for large accessions to our subscription list.
It is desirable that subscriptions be forwarded without delay, so that they may be entered before the approaching Congress.
All communications addressed to
L. P. NOBLE,
THE DAILY AND WEEKLY CHRONOTYPE. Edited by Elizur Wright. Published by White, Potter & Wright, 15, State Street, Boston. Terms: Daily, ONE CENT, each number. For ant sum forwarded to the publishers free of expense, they will send the paper at that rate till the money is exhausted. Weekly, Two Dollars a year in advance, or for any shorter time at the same rate. For five dollars, three copies will be sent for one year.
This publication is made in the finest style of newspaper typography. It is independent of all sects, parties, and cliques, expressing freely the views of the editor and of such correspondents as he thinks proper to admit, on all subjects of human interests.
It advocates equally of human rights, and the abolition of slavery, thorough land reform, cheap postage, abstinence for intoxicating drinks, exemption of temperance men from taxes to repair the damages of drinking, a reform in writing and spelling the English language, the abolition of capital punishment, universal and kindly toleration in religion, life and health insurance, water-cure, working men's protective unions, and all other practical forms of associations for mutual aid—and generally, Progress.
It also gives the news from all parts of the country in the most condensed and intelligible style.
Its Exchange List is already very large—so large that it will be increased only on condition that the paper requesting the exchange will keep the above Prospectus standing in its columns.
Any country paper which will keep the above in its columns, and furnish us with the most important news of its vicinity, by slip or otherwise, in advance of its regular publication, shall be supplied with the Daily Chronotype, in exchange for its weekly, and have our best thanks and due credit to boot.
Boston, Sept. 2, 1847.
THE DELAWARE ABOLITIONIST.
A paper of the above name will be published in Wilmington, by the Delaware Anti-Slavery Society. It will be edited by a Committee, and will be published on a half medium sheet, at twenty-five cents per year, or for twenty-four numbers. It will be devoted to emancipation in Delaware, and will advocate its accomplishment by all lawful means. It will be published semi-monthly, if means are afforded, or as often as the means can be obtained.
JAMES K. BROOKE,
