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Selections: Extract From A Speech Of Daniel O'connel: At The...

Selections: Extract From A Speech Of Daniel O'connel: At The... image
Parent Issue
Day
19
Month
September
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The Lord Mayor sakl he feit it to be an mperativeduty to orise, after the speech of the highJy respeclable and revered gentleman wlio had just conchided. He was sorry tJiat it was his duty lo comment n nny lerms, except of prnise, in anytiiing f]]ing from that Rev. gentleman, but he would bo untnie to the sacred cautie of' freedom, with which he wasidentified, if he wcre to sil silentand hear any apnlogy for slavery, even from the best ofniüfives, ofFered n !s presence. He was glad that themoetiug had heard the Reverend gentleman with snch Bttcntion nnd patience, for both as a stranger and as a clergj man, he was entiiled to every possible ndulgsnce at their hands (hcar,hear.) Ho carne there ns a friend of the cause n whiöh ihey were engnged, to offer them tlie sympathy and support of his felluw-countrymen, and n doingso he had feit it his doly to offer somc remarks in favor of the systehi of slavery as carried on in America. He had stated that the slaves were well fed, .veil taken care of, nnd sleck in their oppearnnce, nnd there conld bc no doubt thnt snch was the fact but if the Reverand gentleman went to tho of the greatest tyrant in the country he vould find his horsep plump and well taken care of, and fur preciscly 'kic same reason as that which the Rev. gentleman had áBflignefl for the good enndition of the slaves, brenuse it was the interest of the üwaer to have ïhem so (loud cries of hear, hear.) But let passion bnrst forth - lel violence disturb liim, nnd the master of that horse, notwilhstanding, ihat it is his own interest to use the animal gentlyand kindly.will treat it brutally and cruelly (hear, hcarj Althoncrli th? general rule was in favor of the slave, yet he was hable to suffer from the caprice of his master: he was liablo to sufler from the eftects of intoxica t on and 11 temper; he was Hable to bo soparnted from the wife of his bosom, and the chiklren of hia tender tiiTection. Tlioy mny he sold as slaves. and sent to ono qnarter of tlie globe, while he himself was sent to the other, and while thatstato of things existed, he would be its niosl determjned enemy, whatever was its consequence - whetluT hc got the sympathy or support oí" their American friends or conqnued to be subjected to the gross guilt inflicfed on his Qpüntry by a continuance of the Union. - (cheers. ) He could not hear slavery pruised ov palliated. Every neme tbitkin hirn Iremhled at the idea of oncman being the property of hts f elï ow -man - of a human being trealed as so miitk chniteh, or that a heing with an inmortal soul should bc hound io the will of any master, he he a tyrant or nthenvise in the ererdscofhisaulhority (chcers.) He could not bring himself to the very idea ofsuch a state of things, and ns much as he valued the sympathy and support of America in the present eonsütutional struggle, if it be the slightest apology for slavery, he at once abandoned it (cheers). Tha Rev. gentleman has eloquently exore=:sed his fears for what the result of freedom to tho slaves in America migbt bc, and the danger which existed if it should take place, of what he (the Lord Mayor) abhorred, for he rievcr would sanction the shediling of one drop of human blood. He talked of violence, of the vengeanco which the elaves would take upon their niasters if they were liberated, and of tlinir incapacity to attend to their own áflairsj.or to tgke care of t.hemselve?. If he (the Lord Mayor) had heard that doctrine propouitded for ths first time, coming as it did from tho revered lips, and the sacred clmracter of him who put it foru-ard - fie had, he repeared, hcard it for first timp, it inight, perbaps, have staggörud hik jódgrrieiif; he roight have thought that he . kfléw more of the matter, and that his evidence ! ' was of that description which was derived j by persoinl knowle,dge rad actual judgment. j But he had the pleasurn to teil him that he i ' heard f lint argument before- thut it wasi' brought forwarcï in the English parliamentj previows to the passing of the biU for the!' emancipación ofthesJaves in the Crifish ! onies, aisd blessed be God he raised his hum-j ble voice io turn eight hnndrnd thousmid slaves i ' info eight hundred thnusand freemen- to íjive jthe tnothep tho happness of blossirisr lier Ü'.ile onc in hor arms, mét&ai of tremblinfr for its future state - to givc her -an ossurance thnt, instead of ïts bejng separated from her pressing heart he was a little frecman, and that she cniilr] say (ö him; you wiil yet be my protector (loud chere.) He he'afd it said before "beware of what yon fio, if you emancípate tliem it wiil créate bloodshed: they are iilterly unfit to take care of ihcmselves, and there wijl be nofhing but confusión throughout the Iength and breadth of our raiiltitqdinqua islands. All this wiil end in blood." And Ihouofh the partios did no't openly say the abolitionists in paríiament sought for blood, yet they insinuatéd that such was their intention. The experiment was, however, tried, and what was the consequence (hear, hcar)? In Demorara alone the emancipated negroes i purchased three estates for which they gave! ninety thousand poiinds, and in Jamaica they were up property from day to rtay. - "Ta!ro care of theniselvesl" Let them only tfy tho O-xperiment. instcad of having human nature deyradcd by the fact of a mrui being held in slavery. It was ns old as the days of Ilomer, who said that when a man was a slavp, halfhis worth was taken from him. It was f hen at least three fourth?, ond the evil was not confined to thaf, for they had it on record that when the English and Frenen Governmenta remnnstrnted with tho Arahs on the coast of Afnca, and called on them to gi"e up tliê trnffic, and discontinue the practico ,of seiímg Europeans, iheir onswer was, tratthese Enropeans were po dcfrrnded as scarcely to rpsemble imn, and that they wcre a kind of monkey rncp. Thero they are, e.-tclnimed tlie Arab., for tJió lust eiffhf or ten yenrs, and did you ever see so stupid a race (a lauh). A man named Adains, nn Ameiican, wan kapt threc yenrs only among them in a slnte of glavcry, nnd such was the dreadfulfects ofit íbát )ie Josf the nso oftho English lanTtinjp nltopelfjpr, nnd spoke n port of jibberinrr longue, half Englitsh, hnlf Arabic; nn)', fie was six monfhs in Englnnd beforc lie was restored to his full fucnitics or Wie posesión of the ÉnpJish hngukge. Sucli was the effect of slavery; and vet áltboüffh 800,000 negroes were emancipatod by Englnnd, not one of them was founü cpplyin;? for relief undcT n ponr law, or for cliarity of any kind, btit supported thcmsolves by liieir own indusf'hear, henr). Thoy were, he odmitted, a little too fantafilic in thejr dre.-=, they were fond of gay and Jivoly colors; but they bougbt their own cotfo, wit! which they clolhed themselves, and ifthere was found a glitter around them, it was the produce of thcir own inclnstry [henr, hear, and a Jaueh]. Not one of tlicm couM be foun3 who was not perfectly nb! to takc care of Mrheélf (hear. henr).Then as to the question of blood, if a revolu- tion took place among llie neirroes, producect by tlicir emancipa tion, he would eive up the case ifitcould be shown him thnt one drop had been shed by tliose who were already admit tea to thèir freedom. Not one had been shed - not a single case of violence had occurred or of retaliation on their mastërs. O yes, th'ey refui-cd to toko off thöir hats.for those who were cruel to'thëm (u langhj: but he stood thera the historian of verily, and the aesertor, of thnt fact in the prcsence of Europe and of America (cheers), He proclaimed Ihot instance of pence and good order among the negro populalion who were set f ree, and ho defied any nne to contradict him, or to ahow the least patticle of violence. No assault or onlrnge, had been committed, or a single drop of blood shed (cheers). Were not the negroes in America the Batne race were they not of the saine cías?, and what fcars could be, entertaincd ofthern? X,et it be recollected that when the experiment of emancipaling the claves in the British Colonies was made, i was made under nnfavorabïe auspices, be-1 cause purchased by twenty millions of tho public money, one fnrthing of whicli waa not given to the negro but to his mnsters. They were insulted by the mnnner in which they recerved their traedom, because it was not gftu en thera as a right to which they were enti-." tled, bnt purchasod for them from their mnsters. Yet no crime was commUted noyio-' lence was resorted tb - no blood was shedand oh! rray the happy day arrive wheii America shall be convinced of these truths' and be inciuced to follow the example of England (liear, hear, the loud cheers. She followcd her "bitter bad" êaniple in the introdnction of flnveiy in the first instance (and England could not bui blush at its continuance in that land)- nay, the Americans were alniost coerced to introduce it: and that Englar.d should liaveto answer forit wasjust before man and Divine Providence. But 1 reland waa free from the foul stain- for no one slave-ship ever sailed from ány port in Ire land except one which carned Irishmen tliemselves (cheereand laughter.)He [tho Lord Mayor] 6inoerely hoped tha Rev, gentleman was convinced he spoke tö him with the utmost respect - thnt he was not the less grateful for his coming amongst therri with ihe happy communication of which he had boon tho bparcr - Ihat he was not the lesa grnteful for the support of tho American friends of Ireland; but he should prove un- prateful indeed if he kept back the expressiori of his feelinpa en the subject [hear, iiear], " He perceived that the Rev. gent leman had aU luded to a circumstance which was aiso reit- eiatPcl in the American papers- that they, in iii their address for tho nbolition ofelavery, caüed on the American peopie lo joih the abütionista. Thcn the il! comUict ofthoabolitionists is set forth, and the enïinies of slavery in this country were censured for tho part they had thus taken. When ho [the Lord Mayor] signed that address, he' did not mean any particular party, much less ons who would not act improperly or insiiltirigly, for it was quite aainst the mterests of" ihose whotu thy fcnllcd their clienis tohaverecourso to eo improper a proceetüng. They did not mean to say by that pliraso that the Americiirs ought to become what wos termcd fabolitionisis" ín their lnnd - they did not menn to say ihat they hould join in any combinition that would injure the prope ty of nny man, but a combination which should have libertv for itobject, and morality, trutli, mid purity of motives as its nim [lond crieá of hear, hear.l-Mati outfit not to he d slavel God h&d innxec) and implanted in his soul equalitv at his birth. All wèré bofn in the nmie nakednesa ar.d subject to the same infirmitics - no distinction existod at tliat moment between tho peor and tho peasnnt, and botli would descend witli the same iiianilion fo the grave. líe would strur2fle there nainst cvery descriptiort of Lyrnnny and dospotisin wherevè'r he found it lo exis he would struucie to brin merflo n consiitnlional equauty, not to that equalitv which (lid not recognizo rnnk or station, j but to that place and equity J;novn to tha )av, and to which ho wad entitlüd [cheers]- that equity which entitled a servant to hiro' with a mastcr, and to go nway at the expiration of his period of service if he chose to do" so - ihat cqnity which enabled the laborer to rèceive the wages he was justly entitled to for his labor, and to discharge hinïserf if that were not paid, or ifhe could impróve hiscondition. But the slavs gaveip his labor to otliers - he was the property of others; nntj come what wold, he hated slavcry in all t'jr fnrms - he -ívould ncver truckle to others, or yiel'l np the detestation in whicli Ij e held ii (cheers). He would insult no man, but Jus heart was devoted to liberty, and so long as slavery existed in any quarter of tlio globe, ho would be founiJ among the ranks of its bitterest and most tlecided enemies [loud chders].

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News