Communications: For The Signal Of Liberty: Anti-slavery Pros...

Mnrch 20 th, 1842. Mf.ssrs. Editors: - During the past wintur, i ave endeavored to learn accurntely the progress ■f the Anti-Slavery cause in Michigan - the obtacles which lie in its vvay, and the circumstanes which tend to favor its avancement. From ireBentappearance8 the prospect seems fair that vlichigan will soon hang out her bnnncr as an nti-Siavery State. Th population of. th State s pecuüarly favorable to the triumpb of ourcnusc. 3ut very few are of ihat class which is termed the abble; and which offered such excellent timber br niobs at the East, and in the cities of the South. Almost all are men of principie. Still hey are so enarossed with private plans and enerprises as frequently to overlook ifs claims, and ;ven suffer thfir own rights to be trampled upon; :?pecially when it can be done under cover ot law. The mnss of the population at the North take no me to smdy the benring of public queslions. and enrn the art ot naiional manoevvering. Henee, ►"'hile the South sec at a glance, and generally :rush at a stroke, every measure which touches be interests o) slavery. we are slovv to see our ights. and frequently favcr those very schemes .vhich tend to subveit them. For this meckness md dooility with regard to inter-state policy, we lave received from the South the appellation of Jough-faces and thiclt hcads - a reproach which is ikely lo remiin. while we suiFcr the features of jur legislatio i tobe moulded by southern craft; ind our heads to be battered, al will by the merciess blows of the slave Dower. The North does notlack ah'di'y to perceive the right, nor energy and promptness to act upon it. - Her interests and pursuits are varions: and It requires great exertion to cali forth public attention ünd concéntrate it upon any subject. But when the mind ís arrested, the interest becomes intense, like the deep heaving sea. rolling its wav.ee from the very bnttom. An illustrntion of that may be seen in the late Presidential election: though we should hope that our good i:ship ofliberty" migiit never display ''hard eider." colors at her mashcad, nor fill her sails with such an ephemeral puil'. There are in Michigan, as in all other places, some who are unfavorable to ourcnufe, and who, (if they are ever gained) must be approached by motives a peculiar kind There is one class, whose activities are alt estimated in dollars and cents. They can see milüons of men writhing in the jaws of despotism, ond reinnin unmovcd; but let them once feel the long fingers of slavery sounding the depth of their pockeis, andthey start as from the growl of a lion. SuciVfèn of all othera ought to be abolitionists. And it it be true, that their prinniples lie in the bottoms of their purses, the prospect is fair that a fuil exposition of them will soon be made. There is another class who are chained to the car of party. The pnrty creed is their criterion of faith. Ihey thirik, talk and vote according to the "regular drill." At the head of these are the office seekers - some quietly settled in well paid stalions; others baffled and disappoimed, though not chscouraged. Hungry and clamorous. thuy go howling after the spoils like a pack of wol ves. when ';thesmell ofblood lures their Iank jaws." From these we have nothing to hope, fór they will shun our cause until it becoines popular, and then we do need not them. There is another class inore numerous thnn nll the others.. consisting of the storling principio and educated industry of the State. A degraded people may look slavery in tlicface. and love the "fiend unmasked," but when edueation is disseminated nnrl the spirit of thepeople unbroken by oppression, slavery, in the'abstrcut at least, will meet with unmingled execration. lts friencie for a time may cover up its deformities with the garb of expediency. But even this must soon fail it hert. For under the blnze of light which the press is pouring on the subject, the people will soon see that interest and r.xpcdiency, as well ne juetice, demand the abolition of slavery. When hia a understood, all wül see that to be an abolitio8tia.only to obey the oft repeated mándate írV,t!om'1' "mind your own business." There has hitherto been great diflerence o: opinión, among il,e friends of the cause, on the subject of "polkical action." But all discordad teelmgs seem to be fast Wending into one; anc that orteiB the detenninatton o meet slavery, anc:onquer at the polls. And surely there cannot be 1 :ircumstances which more clearly settle the e :essity of such a course. nor a lime when its c eet would be more disasirous. Too long already ios slavery been making havoc of our free utions, with law for its shieM. For fifty years , t has laughed at freedom ihrough the loop holes if the Consütution. ' Gorged with the plundcreri s ights of the tree North as wcll a3 of the slave, it urouches unmolested among the ruina of our naional honor. If roused by danger it springs forth, s ind wields the legislative power of the whol f country upon all who approach. The right of E tition is cloven down and the voice of t 9trance smothered by a national gag. To j claim a truce now is treason against humanity. And to attempt to conquer by argument only, when slavery has pad-locked our lipa, or to muster all our forcea in the conflict of moral action, when slavery has bolled fiom Ihat battle field, and is defying us in politics, is absurd. As well for the General to send out all his troop to scour the country, and beat the thickets, while the eneiny were firiug the city. and battering down the waUs of his last entrenchment. But although political action is the right arm of our eirength, still moral influences are indispensable to the success of our cause. Information must be diffused, and the objects and advantages of our enterpnse clearly set forih. Every avenue to the public mind must be kept open. The agiiation of the subject at the polls, during the past year has been the mennsot spreadinginformation more widely perhaps than could have been done in any othcr way. There every class of community is accessible. And facts and argumenta are presented to those, who vvould othewise never receive them. This is one great advantage to be secured by organizattcn at the local elections. - J'ut this is not the only one, nor the greaiest that is attained by orgnnization. By it our streugth will be consolidated - our friends kept together - sectional interests will üeforgotten, or all blended in one. At each election our numbers will be increased, and we ourselves will be gathering courage from each grapple. Instead of halting and stumbling, now bursting forth in a paroxysm of "hard cidcr" enthusiasm, thon cahning down to a most deathlike silencc, we shall move forward steady nnd unwnvering hke warriors who meel the battle, wiïh nerves of steel and {ihearts o oak." It may be long bcfore our object will be accomplished; but we have "learned to possess our souls in pat'cnce." We expect oppositioi from pro-slavery churches. and conupi politica partles. But God. truth, and the interests of so clety. are on our sidc. Add to these the increas ing host ol friends rallying in all parts of the country and who can doubt the The de voted services of truckling parties and churche rnay for a time suspend the threatened fate. Bu thcy pull down destruction upon their own heds Our object as abolitionists is to destroy slavery Uut if, whert an abused public ie dragning fort the monster for his burial. a servile party wi come to the very grave's mouth to embrace th dishonored carcass, let them iall together into th