Extract: From An Address To The Liberty Association Of Detro...

Friendsand Fellow Cifizens : I doubt not most of you are rendy to admit ihat onr object is important, but are fearful that onr measures are not proper, or auch as to ensure snccess- and perhaps some of you are ready to repeat the charge ihat wo have :ruined the cause" by advancmg from the ground of "moral suasion" simply to the assertion of politica] rights, and thiu manifested our determination to nnite poïdical with moral action. Before proceeding ihemore fully to jnstify our position as a "Liberty Party," we wish to refer toone Tact, a peculiar trait in the bistory of the origin and process of every reormation, moral, civil, orreligious that has biessed the world. It is Ü,ii, that the claims firai instituied by the reformerB and the meaauree first advocated to secure the ends desired were for below the ultímate object secured- unknown, doub'less, to themselves, the leaders in every reform have been first led to take ground from which they aoon advanced to higher, and vet higher claims upo those whom theysought to elévate or reform. Abdenco of thie, we nay fearleesly nppeal to the history of the pnsf. Look ai Luther- wben first breaking ground in the gloriousera of the reformation he attaeked sorae of the outpo9ts of that citadel of error- the Papal Church- think you he dreamed that be wns entering upon a Btruggle of such mighty moment? thot step by etep he would be led on in his attacks till the s'rone arm of spiritual despotism should be broken? Look at the fathers of the Revoluïion - when they first remonsirated with the mother country for their wrongs, and petitioned for redress. think you they contemplated ihe lengths to which they Would soon be driven in the assen ion of their rights? - that the claims they then made for the repeal of some of her odious laws would aoon be followcd by the declaration of their absolute independent of her control, and resv.lt in adding a new Republic to the world? Look at the glorious moral reformation which has bleesed our own dny. Tbink you thai Edwatds and Beechfirand Delavan, and the host ofearly warriors in the Tempemnce reform, when they first broke the silcnce of the world upon that subjecf, nnd laid down theposition of Total Abstinence from ardent spirits, thot they would soon go for the banishinent of all intoxicating j drinks? and yet. slill further to perfect their I rious work, unite political with moral action? I Thus it has everleen, in leading forth the host oJ his chosen ones to do battle with tbc crying j sins of tho world. God (in consideration, doubtless. of the blindness of our moral 1 ties) has'Ieft them to take ground far below what f they were afterwards driven lo assume, and thus I as they advunced from tep to step in their I ward course, tbat spirit-stiring motto, j sior"-highcr," "higheT," has been 1 1 ed upon their banners; and one fact which stands! out in bold relief in justification of all these t vances ia this, as fast as one position haa been 1 1 abandoned and a higher one assumed, multitudes j iof those who had been the warm, aad at times, i fiercc opposer of the positíon or principie thue abandoned, have at once morched up and taken the ground just vacoted by tho reformere. and trom that new position continued the combat. Amidst the fierco conttst that is ever attendant upon moral warfare it needa some bold, daring sí i's to seize the 6tindurd under which their associates do baitle and bear it forward - thus animating them to press onward to final triumph! Tbis ia done by siarting some new jrinciplc which bears upon the question at isaue, or advancing to the occupancy of some new ground, far in advance of what had previously been the batllefidd - and were evidence now wanting that the principie oí pol tf-cal action in our cause was sound, onhatite demands have been productive of good, we might find it in the fact that, 'hut very step - that adtancc had brought thousands and tens of thousands in our land at once to assuine the ground of moral suasion who hnd previously most bitterly opposed it! But wc are not driven to analogy in the history of former reformations alone to sustain us in our ndvance measures from ir. oral, siwply to i moral and poUii;al action combined - already i thehistory of thia movement fully justifies ilu i wisdom - and liere we may turn fox a moment to the origin of the "Liberty Party" and j er some of the circumstances which gave it being. For ten longycars the early fnends of the i slaved waged a fierce war of moral suasion I gainst the evil syatem of oppression and its supporters - graduolly the light dawned upon tlieir path, and the fact began to be évident that to i rest bí m pi y t'iert, and rely only upon moral simt, would be virtually to abandon the cnuse they discovered that as slavery was the creature of law, and law the product of those 10 whom the ballot box gave nutberity - consistent y no less than safcty demanded that thert- at the ballot box, the monster should be faced - thcrefore despite the opposit ion that rnged around ihem, they boldly took thcir stnnd. I Iove to spenk of that band vfintrepid spirits who, ninidst the whirlwind ïhat was sweeping round them, dared to take this vantage ground and vote for Liberty. I was not one of them, nnd tiierefore may epeak freely; like many at the presont time, my tonscience nnd judgment were on the sido of Liberty, but p ir ty pleaded 'onli for this onee," I yielded to its demands. and idus lost the opportunitv of sharing in the glory of that achievement - but they who resisted it3 strong entreatie6 and thtn cast their firsi vote for Liberty, threw athwart the dark and angry sea of political strife a glcam of hope - like the Ark, atnid the waves of the deluge. t'icy outrode the storm and preeerved the seed of a glorious principie deatined to bless the nation! Like predoiis tears, those drcps of influence. falling upon the ogitatcd bosom of the nation were "bottled up"- reserved in the providence of God to be poured out in fonds of saving influence upon our guilty landl Time and observation have fully developed the wisdorcv, no less than the jualice of their course. Who, that ie anattentive observer of pitssingevenis, does nut iiready see the same desperate eflbrt, and hear from party leaders and party presses the same spirit-mirring appeal lo rally for the coming contest, as in the memorable .ene of 1840 - u:ging aa heretofore, that thé safetj' - yea, the veiy txis le.nct of our institutions, depend upon the succees of tkeir Javorite party. Araid this tempest, ngain sought to be raised. what more hope would there now be, to raise the Liberti Standard, had they the failed lo do it?- and would not that neglect have pleaded süll stronger for the present, aa one omission of duty pavea the way more easily for another? But thanks to that band of worthies who then iïrst struek for political action- this crisis is past -the Liberty Party is formed- its exiatencc is no longer a problem- ii has become a Jicti fací, and theenquiry mny be justiñed - what are its principies? The answer to this reasonableenquiry we have already partially anticipated- yet 8omething remains to be added- and here, were we driven to admit, wbai onr opponents have so olten taumingij cbarged, that we have but one idea, we might boldly reply, that, that one idea - that one leading object - that living primipU wns the very key stonc in the arch upon which rests the Consutution of our country! One which in its wide scope embrace every thing for which they contend, and whicli like Aaron's Rod, amid the rode of the Magicians, "swallows them up!" do you ask what it is? We rcply in the emphatic language preceding ihe Coiiatiuitjon and avowing the object of that sacred instrument, "to establish jnatice!" Justice, not simply to the sufTering bondnian of the South, but justice aJso to the free laborer of the Nonh-justice to every interest - moral or pecuniury of our beloved land! The charge, there'ore, that we are men of 'one idea," we may we!l endure - yea, be proud of- if (as we fearlessly ossert,) it embraces in its wide scope every important interest of our nation - an idea so pregnant with truth - so momentous in its consequences, may well erve aa the foundationrock upon which to buiíd our political empire! But admiuing the importance of our cause, and the wjsh that tt raight triumphvthe question is aeked, "what possible hope can you have of succe6B?" In onswering tliis query, it h well to look at tl: e ïast nnd compare it with the preseni - and this eurely may farm Bume guide in our estimate of the future. Look then for a moment at the Liberty Party in its infaney - numbering less tban 7.000 votes - alike the pity of iis friends and the scorn and derision of ils foes - every where spoken agajnst for its inaignificance, and n its plans subject daily to the tannts and reproach, ;ií but a Fox go up he shall surely break dowrfthe wall!" The short period of three and a half yt ars have elspsed, and look at it now. The last test of ita etrength (neirly eix montlis ago) showed an increase of more than eight times its origina! number - laok at the respect il commands- iiistead of being noticed in the political returns of the day, as "Mr. Seat," it is dubbed with the honorable appellation of "Lib. Party" - instead of being the conteinptof political foes, it is assuming an importante which hasI j awakened the alarm and is securing tbe bitter cpI position of those. who, as politicians, regard their jí:craftn danger," Almost every report ofeI lections as they come from the numerous towiw and villages of the land, show that its niarch kis onicard, and already in nol a few of them a the North and West, it has ubíained the "town J power,'1 and its sinndurd is seen waving in triun ph over its despising opponents! Look ai some of the corre lative influencea attendant on itsprogress - it has compellcd the Legislatures of severa! of the Jree States to epeak out in favor of some of its leading objecls - it has sent ï te piercing light down inio the dark den of slavery. ciusing the oppreseed to tremble! - it has touched a chord of eymphathy in the hearts of many who dweil in tha midst of its abominntions, and already have the friends of the slave, emboldened by its progress. erected its standard on Kentucky oud Virginia soil! 1 Jius bearding the monster in his very den!Now, in the light of thesi facts, is il not incumbent on ihose who deny the possibility of its final triumph to give us something more ihun bare assertion? VVe assutne it as corrcet, and challenge our oppunents to disprove it - tliat the same causes nre in operación, under the circumsiances, to produce an increase of the Liberty Party for coming tine, as have already secured ttiis rcsult; and farther, that the same causes leing in operation. under like circurnstances, we irojustified in expecting like results. We do notciiim t'iat its inc-ense is to be in precisely the samo ratio - doubling evory year - (and yet in ihis we see nothmg rcqniring the irlervention rf a miraculous Hgency) but we do claim iliat it vvill continue to be such ns to give tbe earnest ol final, ií not epeedy triumpli. And here let us turn íor a moment to some of the bstudes which oppose our progresa, and in kindnesa anJ candor addresa a t'cw thoughts to thoso who, whilo admitting the justice oi' our principies and the iniportnnce of our cnuse, yet cling to, and vote with.the pro-slavery partieB of the day - pleadtng in delenco of their cause, ihat - ■- mmmmmmmmmmm-mmm we are upon the evo of au important crisis - that other great interest are at siake - or that thsir candidates and party are the moro favorable lo our cause - and finally that ehould they cast their votes with U8, it would be á total loss of influence as we cannot possibly sueceed As regatds the "great crisis at which th country has arri ved, i t were perhaps enough to say, ihai this has ever been the rallying cry of intersted politicians upon the eva ol every pending efectjon, however insjgm'ficant may hav been the injerests at stafce, and in a vast majorilfr of cases, the ;great crisis" would prove to hav been wheiher this or ifre oüier party should triumpb, and not that any important principie wti to be established. Wt believe there is a cruis a truly important crisis ropidly approaching. if not already here- a criáis which invoíves not simply the qugstion of bank m no bank-high tarijf or loio tartf-sub (reasitry or depoaif. sygtem - but the infinitely higher nnd more important questions of lïherty or slit;ry - the rescuo of lwo and a half mtllions of our CotJntrymen from ihe golling chains of oppreseion, and our land from tho impending ciirse of God, or the con tinuance of this heaven-daring system and th certuin fearful jud.gmyn.ts thnt must enauel This is the ciisis we claim tobe npon us - the issue which a just God hasalrendy made with our guilty nation! And is it not one v, hich despit thé prtty intereats now agitated aroand us, rfmands onr nttention? As regards the next objectiórf, that th on party or their candidate is the more fivorable to our cause, we may sny, fearless of intelligent contradiction, that neither of the two leading parties, as' suck, or their most prominent candidates for the highest orHce irr our nation's gift, are at all worthy the support of (hose who seek.a paramount lo every other interest, the destruction of slavery in our land. It sareiy woixld be idfe to attempt to prora that the self-6tyled Democratie Party," or theif prominent leaders, were the coaseless opposers- the invetérate haters of our righteous cause - or that tkey had one throb of feelnng for down-trod' den, snfi'ertng humanity in our landí As welí might we attempt to prove Satan a sinntrr, or that fisione had aheirt 10 beat with warm pulsa lions of sympathy in view oïwoe! No- sueh aa effort is needlfcss--we are spared ih task- for their own acts have won for them the unpnviable charactcr of reckless opponente to this eacred cause- their bold, urrbluehing, shame-faeed allegianceto Southern interests.. and their cea6elc hostility to anti slavery feeürrg and influence ha been such that we know rot how they can ask tho support of a mau who has the firat drop oí èiberty Idtoi couréng his veins! We eay, then, in kindnefs and candor to every man who has any afiinlty with that party, and who Jeels awakened in his breast one throb of sympathy for the suffering slave, come out of it at once and foreter - escapafrom its influence as you would irora the poiaoo of a moral miasma! tBut how is it with their more immediare p&. litical opponcntsf And here we feel füfly justified? in isaying that whaiever claim the Whigs migh herorofore have made for aboJition support, oa the groand of fheír favor to our principies a partij, surely in eelecting the man they Havo around whotn to raïly# and whom they aeek to place in the higheet oeat of power and hoHor in our land- they have farfeited that claim. A they have reiterated the assertioa that fre i th very "soul and embodimentof Vr hig principleiir we may claim the riglu tolools ter kim, hia ehrcraeter, acts and declarations as the exponent of their puTly principies on thts all important questiont To arrive at a correct understanding, tfterefore, upon this auhject, Iet us enquir what ha beenme nction oJ '-Henry Clay upon the great quetion of Avterican slivery - n praotical slaveholder himsc-lf - look at his mighty intellect all exerted to extend this accursed system by the introductior. of new slnvestatea into the Unionf - se him resisting with nll his enefgy, fhe ndmission of the free mate of Maine until ihat wickod compromiso was efTected. and Missouri with the plague spot of slavery written on her conetitution was also admitted. So ruuhing wat thia base condition regarded to the free SuMe of Maine, that 5 out of 7 of her Representatives in Congret-s voted againat her ad.uission- preferring to remain forever without the pale of ih Union, rather than thus be off sëlteil hy Missouri with tliis abominable provisión rvritttn on her eonatilution. And yet to Henry Ciay, more probably, :han tonny other man was she indebled for theeO inhonorable terras of adrnieaionl As fariher evi ience of hio lore of slavery and de;erminedii11" tciuw'uij Jijlui iu ïws ucc't-" rit non in the American Senate in 18 39, (and recently roferred to by himself as containing his present sentimenls)- "Í know there is a visionary dogma thaf negro slaves cannot be the subject of property - 1 shall not dweil long upon this speculative abstraction, that is property wbich the law declares to be property. Two hundred yeara havo sanciioned and sanetified negro slaves as property.lil" And again, "[ will continue to oppose every écheme, whatever of emancípation, gradual or immediateü" How is it postible in the face of 6iich declarations- maile in the Capítol of thi free Republic- from the high respoiMibility m ;he American Senate- in the very presence of that sacred instrument of oar rights, which declares that "all vicn are creatcd epud, and are enitled to Ufe, liberty, and ihe pursuit of linppinesa" How, we ask is it poeeible ofter such decJaraions. under such eolemn cireumstance. for his fnends to osk any man with the least spark of libtTly in hs breast to give kim his sufirageT . ShadcB of dnsistency, whither have ye fled?- Teil us not of bis xoliole souled patnotism of hisardent desire for li'ierty, evinced in his sympathy for i is spread in Greecc and th South American Republic- look at hls acte-his solemn recorded dtclarations - and do they not falsify all ihese louJ prufeesions of liberty? But a new argument has been discovered.and is now plied with great zeal by the Whigs. to seduce liberty men to their support. Texas! Texas! thendmiesionïïf Texas Is now the alarm cry of their party at the Norih, nd could we beliovo half their ergans sar, we must conclude that nothihg but the election of tiuir enndidate could save our nation from this eiemut disgrace! How f ar opposilion to slavtiy awakens their zeal agiinst this abuminable écheme, may ba gathercd from the fact ihat tJtis argument - its cxtoiibion of the cause of slavery. which of all others should be most potent at the North, they scarce dare touch! From his known ttachment to thatabominable system. and hii omino is eilence (ihough often and repectfully ntt.