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The Temperance Lecturer

The Temperance Lecturer image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
October
Year
1844
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

"íes, I will go yet furlher, and declare in the name of tho Christian Religión, and our Republican Institutions, based professedJy on the principie of "the greatest good of the greatest number," that no' líiati; afler the next Presidential Elcction, when so rnuch light shnll have been shed upon this subject, should be deemed fit to rule over a Republican, Christian people, who shall viólate i? y holding slaves, the only two principies on which either Christianity or rcpublicanisrn can sfand t he test of philosophicnl scrutiny for a moment." - C. M. Clay to the Mayor ofDayton, March 20, 1844. We publish the preceding, as some Whigs have denied that Cassius Clay ever avowed any such sentiment. In Michigan, the Presidential election will be completed Nov. 5. On that day, accordingto the logic of Cassius there w'úl be so little light shed üpon tbc subject of Slavery that men may consistently viólate Republicanism and Christianity byvoting for a Slaveholder to rule over a "Republican, Christian people:" but thé nexl day after this vvork shall have been acconr plished, viz: Nov. 6, there {tshall have been so much light shed" by the proslavery votes of the previousday, that frora that time it will be mproper to vote for slaveholdersH The conclusión is correct, though we do not admiro the premises. The inconsisteney of C. M. Clay in doing "this once" a confessedly wrong act, has laid him open to the chargo of íiypocrisy. Agentleman said to us the 5ther day:"Stippose I were a temperance lecturer and professed great zeal for the advnncement of temperance principies. - Suppose I should teil the audience that intemperance was adreadful evil, and that all intoxicating liquors should be abandoned. But suppose I should conclude by saying to them, "Boy.s, as the light on this subject is increasing, I propose that we all adjourn to thegrocery and have a real set-to, and by the tirné we shall recover from our debauch to-morrow, there will be sufficient shed upon the subject of intemperance to enable us properly tosign the pledge." Now, what wouldyou think of me as a temperance man? Would you not say at once that I was a consummate hypocrite- that I was utterly unworthy of confidence, and that I cared more for my grog than I dicj for temperance? You would say rigntly. Now the case is parallel with C. M. Clay in reference to supportingslaveholders: and I challenge you toshow if you can, why he should not be treated by abolitionists with equal scorn and conterapt." All the answer we could palee, was, that Cassius was a relative and neichbor of Henry Clay, and.probably supported him, notwithstanding _his slaveholding, from personal friendship. This was lame enough, we admit: but how could we defend a man whose acknowledged principies condemn him?

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News