his truth in its simplicity and power. And here I close with this fresh dedication : Oppression! I have seen thee, face to face, Do hail thee and thy herd of hirelings base :- Aniversal Emancipation. - Though distant be the hour, yet come it must Shall stand erect- their galling fetters riven; When freedom - glorious freedom, shall be given Wo if it come with storm, and blood, and fire, Stranger and citizen alike shall die! And wild Despair in vain for mercy plead — Thou who avengest blood! long-suffering Lord! My guilty country from destruction save! Let Justice sheath her sharp and terrible sword, And Mercy rescue, e'en as from the grave! Oh! for the sake of those who firmly brave The lust of Power- the tyranny of Law To bring redemption to the fettered slaveFearless, though few Thy presence ne'er withdraw, But quench the kindling flames of hot, rebellious war! And ye - - sad victims of base Avarice! Hunted like beasts, and trodden like the earth; Bought and sold daily, at a paltry price — The scorn of tyrants, and of fools the mirth – Your souls debased from their immortal birth Bear meekly-as ye 've borne - your cruel woes; Ease follows pain-light, darkness - plenty, dearth: So time shall give you freedom and repose, And high exalt your heads above your bitter foes! Not by the sword shall your deliverance be; Even now your barren cause begins to bud, 6* Declaration of Sentiments OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION. The Convention assembled in the city of Philadelphia, to organize a National Anti-Slavery Society, promptly seize the opportunity to promulgate the following Declaration of Sentiments, as cherished by them in relation to the enslavement of one-sixth portion of the American people. More than fifty-seven years have elapsed, since a band of patriots convened in this place, to devise measures for the deliverance of this country from a foreign yoke. The corner-stone upon which they founded the Temple of Freedom was broadly this- that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness.' At the sound of their trumpet-call, three millions of people rose up as from the sleep of death, and rushed to the strife of blood; deeming it more glorious to die instantly as freemen, than desirable to live one hour as slaves. They were few in number-poor in resources; but the honest conviction that Truth, Justice and Right were on their side, made them invincible. We have met together for the achievement of an enter prise, without which that of our fathers is incomplete; and which, for its magnitude, solemnity, and probable results upon the destiny of the world, as far transcends theirs as moral truth does physical force. In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of purpose, in intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit, we would not be inferior to them. Their principles led them to wage war against their oppres sors, and to spill human blood like water, in order to be free. Ours forbid the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to reject, and to entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnal weapons for deliverance from bondage; relying solely upon those which are spiritual, and mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Their measures were physical resistance—the marshalling in arms—the hostile array—the mortal encounter. Ours shall be such only as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption the destruction of error by the potency of truth -the overthrow of prejudice by the power of love—and the abolition of slavery by the spirit of repentance. Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in comparison with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom we plead. Our fathers were never slaves- never bought and never shut out from the light of knowl sold like cattle edge and religion taskmasters. never subjected to the lash of brutal But those, for whose emancipation we are striving-constituting at the present time at least one-sixth part of our countrymen are recognized by law, and treated by their fellow-beings, as marketable commodities, as goods and chattels, as brute beasts; are plundered daily of the fruits of their toil without redress; really enjoy no constitutional nor legal protection from licentious and murderous outrages upon their persons; and are ruthlessly torn asunder the tender babe from the arms of its frantic mother the heart-broken wife from her weeping husband-at the caprice or pleasure of irresponsible tyrants. For the crime of having a dark complexion, they suffer the pangs of hunger, the infliction of stripes, the ignominy of brutal servitude. They are kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly enacted to make their instruction a criminal offence. These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of more than two millions of our people, the proof of which may be found in thousands of indisputable facts, and in the laws of the slaveholding States. Hence we maintain — that, in view of the civil and religious privileges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is unequalled by any other on the face of the earth; and, therefore, that it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free. We further maintain that no man has a right to enslave or imbrute his brother- - to hold or acknowledge him, for one moment, as a piece of merchandize - to keep back his hire by fraud or to brutalize his mind, by denying him the means of intellectual, social and moral improvement. The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to usurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own body to the products of his own labor - to the protection of law-and to the common advantages of society. It is piracy to buy or steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. Surely, the sin is as great to enslave an American as an African. Therefore we believe and affirm that there is no difference, in principle, between the African slave trade and American slavery: That every American citizen, who detains a human being in involuntary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, (Ex. xxi. 16,) a man-stealer : That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought under the protection of law: That if they had lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the present period, and had been entailed through successive generations, their right to be free could never have been alienated, but their claims would have constantly risen in solemnity : That all those laws which are now in force, admitting the right of slavery, are therefore, before God, utterly null and |