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Abolitionism In Grass Lake: For The Signal Of Liberty

Abolitionism In Grass Lake: For The Signal Of Liberty image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
November
Year
1841
Copyright
Public Domain
Letter to the Editor
OCR Text

As tho more active iibolitionists ín (jcrass Ijake were so unfortunatc at ihe late election, as to cali down upon ihemselves the curses and iniprecations of both the other política! partics and awaken the fcars of theirown more lukewann friends; now i-íiat the din and excitement of election are cast and all have retired to the quiet oí' their nwn homes, where reason ehóuld xercise an uninterrupted sway, I would av to íhe freemen of Grass Lnke in the language of the prophet, "Come let us reason together." And as t is to be presumerl fimilar occurrences transpired in cverv place where the standard of Iiberty was re tred and defended by the invisible power of truth, I would like to spcak throu"h the Signal tliat all who wil! niay have an opportunky to judge of the propriety of our conduct, both as individuals and members ofa new butonward-moving party. Opposition frotn theold pro-slavery parties is to be expected of cuurse and should be candidly met when fairly urged; but when friends ín kindness intímate to us ihat we are passing the bounds of reason and propriety it is we 11 to pause and examine well our position, lest vvhile we urge upon others consistency of conduct, we ,ouiselves be found without the pale. Bolh these reasons combined have induced me to examine the proceedingofthe abolitionists in Graes Lake, at the late election, not only in the name of the individuáis concerned, bul in the name of tho party generally as it is believed, no other course was taken in this place than was, as most certainly should have been laken, by abolitionists in every place. The amount of the objections urged against them was, that there is too much zea), too much excitement. And here I U3k in reference to the nature of that excitement was passion, or anger, at any time manifested by those whose warmth you censure?Last fall four votes were silently polled here without a word of censnre or cornmendation; the noble few being generïally regardcd as ultra fanática who were enguged in a scheme as wild and chimerical as useless and impracticable, though the heart of one individual at least feit the silent rebuke and approved their stern integrity. But no standard was reared, no rallying point was fixed, around which the friendsoflibertycouldgnther, to withsland the atlacks from the lions of the two great polilical tribes, or resist the combined effort8 of their less powerful but more numerous and annoying assjciates. This fall it was deemed important thatsome one should be constantly present to speak for ihe oppretsed and answer for his party whenits principies are called in question. Accordingly at an early hour several abolilionists presmted themselves at the polls when they received tho gentlemanly salutation from certain party leaders " well, you have come to support the blackleg ticket have you ?" This was the signal for aitack and the appellation öf "higgcr" was injniediately heard in various directions from the smaller fry, and from that time forward to the closing of the polls at night onocontinued stre'im of the lowest, vilest, und most opprobious epithels was poured forth from at least a dozen mouths accompanied vviih the filthiest insinuations and most contemptible blackguard thal I ever heard and silently borne, save an occaiional retort. All this was not only not discountenanced by, but was aotually cheered on by the approving laugh of these who consider themselves the first in society. A stranger might here naturally inquire, with aslonUhment, what these men had done to bring upon themselves the execra lion and denunciation of a free people, and methinks his astonishment would not at all dimiaish on being inforrned that the odious principies which thcy hold and for which they are denounced and persecuted are that one people has not a right to oppress another, though physically weaker, and that every freeman is bound to a con6cientious exorcise of his duties,ns auch, at ihe polls. No attack was made upon any one more than toask him if he would vote he Liberty ticket and no discussion was courted by the abolitionisls, but when addressed with any show of rcason, or drawn ioto adiscussion they defended themselves wilhjcandid arguments,animated and warm if you please, but fairly and ingenuously urged, and they invariably had the cnisfortune to see their opponents drop silently away and leavejtheir argument to be finishfid by some new comer The moretious and ditcarning part of community were alarmed, somuch warmih was manifested, and such hard things were said about their parties; and friends were urged even by members of the board of election, lo intercede with individuals (o he more reserved, for they would certainly injure themselves, ihey lalked so much and so zealously. But I would ask those individúala that if amid all their zealand hard sayings, the abolilionists took a position which they were unable or unwilling to sustain when requested to do so. Whnt then was there censurable in this zeal? is not the subject the same that once inspired the tongue of Henry, and called forth the giant powers of the eider Aclama, or has liberty lost her inspiring nfluence because she has slumbered for half a century? Is man such a stoic that he can stand before an opposing multitude, excited almost to not while tlie thrcat of tar and feathers is mingieJ wiih a thousandimprecations, unmoveci,ihoughthe very principies on which he is based appeat at once to his palriotiem and his heart! Can he withhold a generous indignation when he sees in repeated instances citizens who have had a respectable and dignified standing among us for a number of years, or for the last six momhs or a year, challenged because they were known to be firm and unyielding enemies lo oppression? You ask too much gentlemen of poor human nature to expect onc to be unmoved, even if it were desirable, under such an accumulation of insult &.indignilies; especiaüy when eve ry faculty of that nature feels ilselfaroused in defence of iis own inalienable righls. And what would our friends have had us do; follow our party to the polls then refuse to own, or openly deny it? Simon Peter followcd our Saviour to the Jewish council but denied him when there; and il is said "Jesus lookcd on him and he went out and wept." May not those professed friends oflheslave who feared to own a righteous cause before men, shed a penitential tear over their tinpardonable weakness? I leave those who professed their attachment to the cause of the oppressed with their lip?, while they betrayed it by their acis, to setlle the matter with theirown couscienccs, by simply asking, did not Judas even so? bul their reward was less than his, for they, as whigs, have lost that very ascendency they hoped to maintain and have gained nothing by their deceitful sacrifice of principie. The whole scope and force of the objection then ainounts to this, the offending party wcre abolitionists. Oh! odious principie that should make our every, otherwise virtuous, act the subject of universal and unmitated censure. There was no alternative had il been desired, we must own our party toj be candid. to be consistent we must defend it from its unceasing attacks, and while reason speaks, may not the hearl sympathise? Bul before'l dismiss this subject '.et me say a word to political partizans after their own manncr ol speaking. It is well known that if they can find a single sentence among all the volurninous wrilings of the immorta! Jefierson, equivocal though it may be, that goes to support their ill defined and worse comprehended systems of national policy, it is appealed lo as a perfect refutaiion of every thing that can be urged against it. We as a party are willing to be tried by any natiopal test, therefore let us appeal to his writings, and there we shall find standing out in bold relief the follwing: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created free and equal, and endowed by their Creator wilh ccrtain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberly and the pursuit of happiness," and was this plain uneq'iivocal language the language efJefferson alono, or did fifty-five of the leading patriotsof the revolution subscribe it with their own hands? Relying upon their principies as a full justification of their conduct, they appealed to lieaven as a wilness to the righteousness of their cause, and leaned upon the arm of God for help, though they knew that it would cost the blood of slaughlered ihousands to sustain them. Upon the prime basis of these broad principies we stand, appealing to tbc same God for justification and support, we propose to go ibrward and ask others to go with us, not to the sheddingof blood, but to thequiet and peaceable exerciseofa freemar. at the polls. Can it be that reaso'nable man is so infatuated and blind as to doubt the justice of our cause? It would seem impossible. And the same Jeeferson who penned the sacred truths above quoted, when he saw his countrymen establish a Government in direct violationof those immutable principies, exclaimed wi;h an indignant horror: "I tremble for my country when I remember that God is just, and that his justice will not always sleep j" bul if fifty years ago he trembled in view of slavery in its infancy, when it embraced only a half million of victims, ought we not to quake exceedingly, when we see it crushing to eartn lluee millions of immortal beings, and in its colossal growlh overshadows the whole nation? And while we tremble for our country, may we not manifest some degree ofenthusiasm n advocaling her interests and theinterests ofsuffering humanity ? Think you, could our Fathers have believed, while they werefighting to sustain the Declaration of Independence, that in a country where every religious and political opinión is tolerated, even those that tend to the destruction of all government; I say, could they have believed that within seventy years from the putting forth of such a manifestó, in a countrv thua censtituted, among their owndesccndan'8, r man wouM bocome a hiss anda by word for avowingandadvocating the very principies they were fighting lo sualain? io! had such a suspicion crossed their.mindsjunstrung had been their hearts - unnerved their arms, their swords had fallen uselessly at their sides aud England had lorded jt over this fair America even to this hour. Yet so is in these United States, so il is in our own quiet, peaceful.