BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//InvisionCommunity Events 5.0.18//EN METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN REFRESH-INTERVAL:PT15M X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT15M X-WR-CALNAME:RMCommunityCalendar NAME:RMCommunityCalendar BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:https://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:What to the slave is the 4th of July? from Frederick Douglas s DTSTAMP:20260702T015632Z SEQUENCE:0 UID:772-7-c3fe8195a3dde498d013e477e2142422@aalbc.com ORGANIZER;CN="richardmurray":noreply@aalbc.com DESCRIPTION:REFERRALWhat to the slave is the 4th of July? from Frederick Douglass - Work List - African American Literature Book ClubDate July 5\, 1852Venue Corinthian HallLocationRochester\, New York\, United StatesORAT ION\, DELIVERED IN CORINTHIAN HALL\, ROCHESTER\, BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS\, J ULY 5TH\, 1852.Mr. President\, Friends and Fellow Citizens :HE who could a ddress this audience without a quailing sensation\, has stronger nerves th an I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly\, nor with greater distrust of my ability\, tha n I do this day. A feeling has crept over me\, quite unfavorable to the ex ercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which req uires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I know t hat apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. I trust\, however\, that mine will not be so considered. Should I seem at ea se\, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The little experience I hav e had in addressing public meetings\, in country school houses\, avails me nothing on the present occasion.The papers and placards say\, that I am t o deliver a 4th July oration. This certainly\, sounds large\, and out of t he common way\, for me. It is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall\, and to address many who now honor me with t heir presence. But neither their familiar faces\, nor the perfect gage I t hink I have of Corinthian Hall\, seems to free me from embarrassment.The f act is\, ladies and gentlemen\, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation\, from which I escaped\, is considerable–—and the di fficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former\, are b y no means slight. That I am here to-day\, is\, to me\, a matter of astoni shment as well as of gratitude. You will not\, therefore\, be surprised\, if in what I have to say\, I evince no elaborate preparation\, nor grace m y speech with any high sounding exordium. With little experience and with less learning\, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfec tly together\; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence\, I wi ll proceed to lay them before you.This\, for the purpose of this celebrati on\, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence\ , and of your political freedom. This\, to you\, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds back to the day\, and to the act of your great deliverance\; and to the signs\, and to the w onders\, associated with that act that day. This celebration also marks th e beginning of another year of your national life\; and reminds you that t he Republic of America is now 76 years old. I am glad\, fellow-citizens\, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years\, though a good old age fo r a man\, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. ‘Three score year s and ten is the allotted time for individual men\; but nations number the ir years by thousands. According to this fact\, you are\, even now only in the beginning of you national career\, still lingering in the period of c hildhood. I repeat\, I am glad this is so. There is hope in the thought\, and hope is much needed\, under the dark clouds which lower above the hori zon. The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes\, portending disast rous times\; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that Ameri ca is young\, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existe nce. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom\, of justice and of truth \, will yet give direction to her destiny? Were the nation older\, the pat riot’s heart might be sadder\, and the reformer’s brow heavier. Its fu ture might be shrouded in gloom\, and the hope of its prophets go out in s orrow. There is consolation in the thought\, that America is young.—Grea t streams are not easily turned from channels\, worn deep in the course of ages. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty\, and inundate the land\, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious pro perties. They may also rise in wrath and fury\, and bear away\, on their a ngry waves\, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. They\, however\, gradually flow back to the same old channel\, and flow on as ser enely as ever. But\, while the river may not be turned aside\, it may dry up\, and leave nothing behind but the withered branch\, and the unsightly rock\, to howl in the abyss-sweeping wind\, the sad tale of departed glory . As with rivers so with nations.Fellow-citizens\, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. The simpl e story of it is\, that\, 76 years ago\, the people of this country were B ritish subjects. The style and title of your “sovereign people” (in wh ich you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British Crown. Yo ur fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government and Engl and as the fatherland. This home government\, you know\, although a consid erable distance from your home\, did\, in the exercise of its parental pre rogatives\, impose upon its colonial children\, such restraints\, burdens and limitations\, as\, in its mature judgment\, it deemed wise\, right and proper.But\, your fathers\, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of t his day\, of the infallibility of government\, and the absolute character of its acts\, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to th e wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. They wen t so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government un just\, unreasonable\, and oppressive\, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. I scarcely need say\, fellow-citizens\, that my opinion of those measures fully accords with that of your fathers. Such a declaration of agreement on my part\, would not be worth much to anybody. It would\, certainly\, prove nothing\, as to what part I might have taken\ , had I lived during the great controversy of 1776. To say now that Americ a was right\, and England wrong\, is exceedingly easy. Everybody can say i t\; the dastard\, not less than the noble brave\, can flippantly discant o n the tyranny of England towards the American Colonies. It is fashionable to do so\; but there was a time when\, to pronounce against England\, and in favor of the cause of the colonies\, tried men’s souls. They who did so were accounted in their day\, plotters of mischief\, agitators and rebe ls\, dangerous men. To side with the right\, against the wrong\, with the weak against the strong\, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! he re lies the merit\, and the one which\, of all others\, seems unfashionabl e in our day. The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. But\, to proceed.Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated\, by the home government\, your fathers\, like men of ho nesty\, and men of spirit\, earnestly sought redress. They petitioned and remonstrated\; they did so in a decorous\, respectful\, and loyal manner. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. This\, however\, did not answer the purpose. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference\, col dness and scorn. Yet they persevered. They were not the men to look back.A s the sheet anchor takes a firmer hold\, when the ship is tossed by the st orm\, so did the cause of your fathers grow stronger\, as it breasted the chilling blasts of kingly displeasure. The greatest and best of British st atesmen admitted its justice\, and the loftiest eloquence of the British S enate came to its support. But\, with that blindness which seems to be the unvarying characteristic of tyrants\, since Pharoah and his hosts were dr owned in the Red sea\, the British Government persisted in the exactions c omplained of.The madness of this course\, we believe\, is admitted now\, e ven by England\; but \, we fear the lesson is wholly lost on our present r ulers.Oppression makes a wise man mad. Your fathers were wise men\, and if they did not go mad\, they became restive under this treatment. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs\, wholly incurable in their col onial capacity. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Ju st here\, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown wa s born! It was a startling idea\, much more so\, than we\, at this distanc e of time\, regard it. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) o f that day\, were\, of course\, shocked and alarmed by it.Such people live d then\, had lived before\, and will\, probably\, ever have a place on thi s planet\; and their course\, in respect to any great change\, (no matter how great the good to be attained\, or the wrong to be redressed by it\,) may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars . They hate all changes\, but silver\, gold and copper change! Of this sor t of change they are always strongly in favor.These people were called tor ies in the days of your fathers\; and the appellation\, probably\, conveye d the same idea that is meant by a more modern\, though a somewhat less eu phonious term\, which we often find in our papers\, applied to some of our old politicians.Their opposition to the then dangerous thought was earnes t and powerful\; but\, amid all their terror and affrighted vociferations against it\, the alarming and revolutionary idea moved on\, and the countr y with it.On the 2d of July\, 1776\, the old Continental Congress\, to the dismay of the lovers of ease\, and the worshippers of property\, clothed that dreadful idea with all the authority of national sanction. They did s o in the form of a resolution\; and as we seldom hit upon resolutions\, dr awn up in our day\, whose transparency is at all equal to this\, it may re fresh your minds and help my story if I read it.Resolved\, That these unit ed colonies are\, and of right\, ought to be free and Independent States\; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown\; and tha t all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is\ , and ought to be\, dissolved.Citizens\, your fathers Made good that resol ution. They succeeded\; and to-day you reap the fruits of their success. T he freedom gained is yours\; and you\, therefore\, may properly celebrate this anniversary. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation ’s history—the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped des tiny.Pride and patriotism\, not less than gratitude\, prompt you to celebr ate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declarat ion of Independence is the RINGBOLT to the chain of your nation’s destin y\; so\, indeed\, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles\, be true to them on all occasions\, in. all places\, against all foes\, and at whatever cost.From the round top of your ship of state\, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. Heavy billows\, like mountains in the distance\, disclose to the lee ward huge forms of flinty rocks! That bolt drawn\, that chain\, broken\, a nd all is lost. Cling to this day—cling to it\, and to its principles\, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight.The coining into being of a nation\, in any circumstances\, is an interesting event. But\, besides general considerations\, there were peculiar circumstances w hich make the advent of this republic an event of special attractiveness.T he whole scene\, as I look back to it\, was simple\, dignified and sublime .The population of the country\, at the time\, stood at the insignificant number of three millions. The country was poor in the munitions of war. Th e population was weak and scattered\, and the country a wilderness unsubdu ed. There were then no means of concert and combination\, such as exist no w. Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipli ne. From the Potomac to the Delaware was a journey of many days. Under the se\, and innumerable other disadvantages\, your fathers declared for liber ty and independence and triumphed.Fellow Citizens\, I am not wanting in re spect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too—great enough to giv e fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise\, at one time\, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am com pelled to view them is not\, certainly the most favorable\; and yet I cann ot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were stat esmen\, patriots and heroes\, and for the good they did\, and the principl es they contended for\, I will unite with you to honor their memory.They l oved their country better than their own private interests\; and\, though this is not the highest form of human excellence\, all will concede that i t is a rare virtue\, and that when it is exhibited\, it ought to command r espect. He who will\, intelligently\, lay down his life for his country\, is a man whom it is not in human nature to despise. Your fathers staked th eir lives\, their fortunes\, and their sacred honor\, on the cause of thei r country. In their admiration of liberty\, they lost sight of all other i nterests.They were peace men\; but they preferred revolution to peaceful s ubmission to bondage. They were quiet men\; but they did not shrink from a gitating against oppression. They showed forbearance\; but that they knew its limits. They believed in order\; but not in the order of tyranny. With them\, nothing was “settled” that was not right. With them\, justice\ , liberty and humanity were “final\;” not slavery and oppression. You may well cherish the memory of such men. They were great in their day and generation. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times.How circumspect\, exact and proportionate were all their movements! How unlike the politicians of an hour! Their statesmansh ip looked beyond the passing moment\, and stretched away in strength into the distant future. They seized upon eternal principles\, and set a glorio us example in their defence. Mark them!Fully appreciating the hardships to be encountered\, firmly believing in the right of their cause\, honorably inviting the scrutiny of an on-looking world\, reverently appealing to he aven to attest their sincerity\, soundly comprehending the solemn responsi bility they were about to assume\, wisely measuring the terrible odds agai nst them\, your fathers\, the fathers of this republic\, did\, most delibe rately\, under the inspiration of a glorious patriotism\, and with a subli me faith in the great principles of justice and freedom\, lay deep\, the c orner-stone of the national super-structure\, which has risen and still ri ses in grandeur around you.Of this fundamental work\, this day is the anni versary. Our eyes are met with demonstrations of joyous enthusiasm. Banner s and pennants wave exultingly on the breeze. The din of business\, too\, is hushed. Even mammon seems to have quitted his grasp on this day. The ea r-piercing fife and the stirring drum unite their accents with the ascendi ng peal of a thousand church bells. Prayers are made\, hymns are sung\, an d sermons are preached in honor of this day\; while the quick martial tram p of a great and multitudinous nation\, echoed back by all the hills\, val leys and mountains of a vast continent\, bespeak the occasion one of thril ling and universal interest—a nation’s jubilee.Friends and citizens\, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. Ma ny of you understand them better than I do. You could instruct me in regar d to them. That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel\, perhaps\, a m uch deeper interest than your speaker. The causes which led to the separat ion of the colonies from the British crown have never lacked for a tongue. They have all been taught in your common schools\, narrated at your fires ides\, unfolded from your pulpits\, and thundered from your legislative ha lls\, and are as familiar to you as household words. They form the staple of your national poetry and eloquence.I remember\, also\, that\, as a peop le\, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in in the ir own favor. This is esteemed by some as a national trait—perhaps a nat ional weakness. It is a fact\, that whatever makes for the wealth or for t he reputation of Americans\, and can be had cheap! will be found by Americ ans. I shall not be charged with slandering Americans\, if I say I think t he Americans can side of any question may be safely left in American hands .I leave\, therefore\, the great deeds of your fathers to other gentlemen whose claim to have been regularly descended will be less likely to be dis puted than mine!THE PRESENT.My business\, if I have any here to-day\, is w ith the present. The accepted time with God and his cause is the ever-livi ng now.“Trust no future\, however pleasant\, Let the dead past bury its dead\; Act\, act in the living present\, Heart within\, and God overhea d.”We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the pres ent and to the future. To all inspiring motives\, to noble deeds which can be gained from the past\, we are welcome. But now is the time\, the impor tant time. Your fathers have lived\, died\, and have done their work\, and have done much of it well. You live and must die\, and you must do your w ork. You have no right to enjoy a child’s share in the labor of your fat hers\, unless your children are to be blest by your labors. You have no ri ght to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover yo ur indolence. Sydney Smith tells us that men seldom eulogize the wisdom an d virtues of their fathers\, but to excuse some folly or wickedness of the ir own. This truth is not a doubtful one. There are illustrations of it ne ar and remote\, ancient and modern. It was fashionable\, hundreds of years ago\, for the children of Jacob to boast\, we have “Abraham to our fath er\,” when they had long lost Abraham’s faith and spirit. That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abraham’s great name\, while th ey repudiated the deeds which made his name great. Need I remind you that a similar thing is being done all over this country to-day? Need I tell yo u that the Jews are not the only people who built the tombs of the prophet s\, and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous? Washington could not di e till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Yet his monument is built u p by the price of human blood\, and the traders in the bodies and souls of men\, shout—”We have Washington to “our father.”—Alas! that it should be so\; yet so it is.“The evil that men do\, lives after them\,Th e good is oft interred with their bones.”Fellow-citizens\, pardon me\, a llow me to ask\, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I\, or those I represent\, to do with your national independence? Are the grea t principles of political freedom and of natural justice\, embodied in tha t Declaration of Independence\, extended to us? and am I\, therefore\, cal led upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar\, and to confe ss the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting f rom your independence to us?Would to God\, both for your sakes and ours\, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions ! Then would my task be light\, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold\, that a nation’s sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude\, that would not thankfully a cknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish\, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation’s jubilee\, whe n the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that\, the dumb might eloquently speak\, and the “lame m an leap as an hart.”But\, such is not the state of the case. I say it wi th a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the p ale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you\, this day\, rejoice\, are not enjoyed in common.—The rich inheritance of justice\, l iberty\, prosperity and independence\, bequeathed by your fathers\, is sha red by you\, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you\ , has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours\, not min e. You may rejoice\, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty\, and call upon him to join you in joyous a nthems\, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean\, citize ns\, to mock me\, by asking me to speak to-day? If so\, there is a paralle l to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the ex ample of a nation whose crimes\, towering up to heaven\, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty\, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten peo ple!“By the rivers of Babylon\, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof . For there\, they that carried us away captive\, required of us a song\; and they who wasted us required of us mirth\, saying\, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I f orget thee\, 0 Jerusalem\, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do n ot remember thee\, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”Fellow citizens\; above your national\, tumultuous joy\, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains\, heavy and grievous yesterday\, are\, to-day\, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget\, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day\, “may my right hand forget her cunning\, and may my tongue cl eave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them\, to pass lightly over the ir wrongs\, and to chime in with the popular theme\, would be treason most scandalous and shocking\, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject\, then\, fellow-citizens\, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see\, this day\, and its popular characteristics\, from the slave’s poi nt of view. Standing\, there\, identified with the American bondman\, maki ng his wrongs mine\, I do not hesitate to declare\, with all my soul\, tha t the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past\, or to the profes sions of the present\, the conduct of the nation seems equa lly hideous and revolting. America is false to the past\, false to the pre sent\, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion\, I will\, in the name of humanity which is outraged\, in the name of liberty which is fett ered\, in the name of the constitution and the Bible\, which are disregard ed and trampled upon\, dare to call in question and to denounce\, with all the emphasis I can command\, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery —the great sin and shame of America! “I will not equivocate\; I will n ot excuse\;” I will use the severest language I can command\; and yet no t one word shall escape me that any man\, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice\, or who is not at heart a slaveholder\, shall not confess to b e right and just.But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say\, it is ju st in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to ma ke a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more\, and d enounce less\, would you persuade more\, and rebuke less\, your cause woul d be much more likely to succeed. But\, I submit\, where all is plain ther e is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slave-holders themselves ackno wledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seven ty-two crimes in the State of Virginia\, which\, if committed by a black m an\, (no matter how ignorant he be\,) subject him to the punishment of dea th\; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the lik e punishment.—What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a m oral\, intellectual and responsible being. The manhood of the slave is con ceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding\, under severe fines and penalties\, the teachi ng of the slave to read or to write.—When you can point to any such laws \, in reference to the beasts of the field\, then I may consent to argue t he manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets\, when the fowls of the air\, when the cattle on your hills\, when the fish of the sea\, and the reptiles that crawl\, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute\, then will I argue with you that the slave is a manFor the present\ , it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the negro race. Is it not as tonishing that\, while we are ploughing\, planting and reaping\, using all kinds of mechanical tools\, erecting houses\, constructing bridges\, buil ding ships\, working in metals of brass\, iron\, copper\, silver and gold\ ; that\, while we are reading\, writing and cyphering\, acting as clerks\, merchants and secretaries\, having among us lawyers\, doctors\, ministers \, poets\, authors\, editors\, orators and teachers\; that\, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men\, digging gold in California\, capturing the whale in the Pacific\, feeding sheep and cattl e on the hillside\, living\, moving\, acting\, thinking\, planning\, livin g in families as husbands\, wives and children\, and\, above all\, confess ing and worshipping the Christian’s God\, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave\, we are called upon to prove that we ar e men!Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I a rgue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for Republicans? Is i t to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation\, as a matter bese t with great difficulty\, involving a doubtful application of the principl e of justice\, hard to be understood? How should I look to-day\, in the pr esence of Americans\, dividing\, and subdividing a discourse\, to show tha t men have a natural right to freedom? speaking of it relatively\, and pos itively\, negatively\, and affirmatively. To do so\, would be to make myse lf ridiculous\, and to offer an insult to your understanding.-There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven\, that does not know that slavery is w rong for him.What\, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes\, to rob them of their liberty\, to work them without wages\, to keep them ign orant of their relations to their fellow men\, to beat them with sticks\, to flay their flesh with the lash\, to load their limbs with irons\, to hu nt them with dogs\, to sell them at auction\, to sunder their families\, t o knock out their teeth\, to burn their flesh\, to starve them into obedie nce and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marke d with blood\, and stained with pollution\, is wrong? No I will not. I hav e better employment for my time and strength\, than such arguments would i mply.What\, then\, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine\ ; that God did not establish it\; that our doctors of divinity are mistake n? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman\, cannot be di vine! Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can\, may\; I cannot . The time for such argument is past.At a time like this\, scorching irony \, not convincing argument\, is needed. O! had I the ability\, and could I reach the nation’s ear\, I would\, to day\, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule\, blasting reproach\, withering sarcasm\, and stern rebuke . For it is not light that is needed\, but fire\; it is not the gentle sho wer\, but thunder. We need the storm\, the whirlwind\, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened\; the conscience of the natio n must be roused\; the propriety of the nation must be startled\; the hypo crisy of the nation must be exposed\; and its crimes against God and man m ust be proclaimed and denounced.What\, to the American slave\, is your 4th of July? I answer\; a day that reveals to him\, more than. all other days in the year\, the gross injustice and cruelty to which lie is the constan t victim. To him\, your celebration is a sham\; your boasted liberty\, an unholy license\; your national greatness\, swelling vanity\; your sounds o f rejoicing are empty and heartless\; your denunciations of tyrants\, bras s fronted impudence\; your shouts of liberty and equality\, hollow mockery \; your prayers and hymns\, your sermons and thanksgivings\, with all your religious parade\, and solemnity\, are\, to him\, mere bombast\, fraud\, deception\, impiety\, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth gu ilty of practices\, more shocking and bloody\, than are the people of thes e United States\, at this very hour.Go where you may\, search where you wi ll\, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world\, tra vel through South America\, search out every abuse\, and when you have fou nd the last\, lay your facts by the side of the every day practices of thi s nation\, and you will say with me\, that\, for revolting barbarity and s hameless hypocrisy\, America reigns without a rival.THE INTERNAL SLAVE TRA DE.Take the American slave-trade\, which we are told by the papers\, is es pecially prosperous just now. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. This trade is one of the peculiarities of American instit utions. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one half of this confederacy\; and millions are pocketed every year\, by dealers in th is horrid traffic. In several states\, this trade is a chief source of wea lth. It is called (in contradistinction to the foreign slave-trade) “the internal slave-trade.” It is\, probably\, called so\, too\, in order to divert from it the horror with which the foreign slave-trade is contempla ted. That trade has long since been denounced by this government\, as pira cy. It has been denounced with burning words\, from the high places of the nation\, as an execrable traffic. To arrest it\, to put an end to it\, th is nation keeps a squadron\, at immense cost\, on the coast of Africa. Eve rywhere\, in this country\, it is safe to speak of this foreign slave-trad e\, as a most inhuman traffic\, opposed alike to the laws of God and of ma n. The duty to extirpate and destroy it\, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. In order to put an end to it\, some of these last have consen ted that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country \, and establish themselves on the western coast of Africa! It is\, howeve r\, a notable fact\, that\, while so much execration is poured out by Amer icans\, upon those engaged in the foreign slave-trade\, the men engaged in the slave-trade between the states pass without condemnation\, and their business is deemed honorable.Behold the practical operation of this intern al slave-trade\, the American slave-trade\, sustained by American politics and American religion. Here you will see men and women\, reared like swin e\, for the market. You know what is a swine-drover? I will show you a man -drover. They inhabit all our Southern States. They perambulate the countr y\, and crowd the highways of the nation\, with droves of human stock. You will see one of these human flesh jobbers\, armed with pistol\, whip and bowie-knife\, driving a company of a hundred men\, women\, and children\, from the Potomac to the slave market at New Orleans. These wretched people are to be sold singly\, or in lots\, to suit purchasers. They are food fo r the cotton-field\, and the deadly sugar-mill. Mark the sad procession\, as it moves wearily along\, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. Hear h is savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths\, as he hurries on his affrig hted captives! There\, see the old man\, with locks thinned and gray. Cast one glance\, if you please\, upon that young mother\, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun\, her briny tears falling on the brow of the ba be in her arms. See\, too\, that girl of thirteen\, weeping\, yes! weeping \, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! The drove move s tardily. Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength\; suddenly you hear a quick snap\, like the discharge of a rifle\; the fetters clank\ , and the chain rattles simultaneously\; your ears are saluted with a scre am\, that seems to have torn its way to the centre of your soul! The crack you heard\, was the sound of the slave-whip\; the scream you heard\, was from the woman you saw with the babe. Her speed had faltered under the wei ght of her child and her chains! that gash on her shoulder tells her to mo ve on. Follow this drove to New Orleans. Attend the auction\; see men exam ined like horses\; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to t he shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. See this drove sold and separat ed forever\; and never forget the deep\, sad sobs that arose from that sca ttered multitude. Tell me citizens\, WHERE\, under the sun\, you can witne ss a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. Yet this is but a. glance at th e American slave-trade\, as it exists\, at this moment\, in the ruling par t of the United States.I was born amid such sights and scenes. To me the A merican slave-trade is a terrible reality. When a child\, my soul was ofte n pierced with a sense of its horrors. I lived on Philpot Street\, Fell’ s Point\, Baltimore\, and have watched from the wharves\, the slave ships in the Basin\, anchored from the shore\, with their cargoes of human flesh \, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. There was \, at that time\, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street\, by Austin Woldfolk. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryl and\, announcing their arrival\, through the papers\, and on flaming “ha nd-bills\,” headed CASH FOR NEGROES. These men were generally well dress ed men\, and very captivating in their manners. Ever ready to drink\, to t reat\, and to gamble. The fate of many a slave has depended upon the turn of a single card\; and many a child has been snatched from the arms of its mother\, by bargains arranged in a state of brutal drunkenness.The flesh- mongers gather up their victims by dozens\, and drive them\, chained\, to the general depot at Baltimore. When a sufficient number have been collect ed here\, a ship is chartered\, for the purpose of conveying the forlorn c rew to Mobile\, or to New Orleans. From the slave prison to the ship\, the y are usually driven in the darkness of night\; for since the anti-slavery agitation\, a certain caution is observed.In the deep still darkness of m idnight\, I have been often aroused by the dead heavy footsteps\, and the pitious cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. The anguish of my boyish heart was intense\; and I was often consoled\, when speaking to my mistress in the morning\, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked \; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains\, and the heart-rending cries. I was glad to find one who sympathised with me in my horror.Fellow -citizens\, this murderous traffic is\, to-day\, in active operation in th is boasted republic. In the solitude of my spirit\, I see clouds of dust r aised on the highways of the South\; I see the bleeding footsteps\; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity\, on the way to the slave-markets\, where the victims are to be sold like horses\, sheep\, and swine\, knocke d off to the highest bidder. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly bro ken\, to gratify the lust\, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. My soul sickens at the sight.“Is this the land your Fathers lov ed\, The freedom which they toiled to win? Is this the earth whereon the y moved? Are these the graves they slumber in?” But a still more inhum an\, disgraceful\, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. By an act of the American Congress\, not yet two years old\, slavery has b een nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. By that act\, Ma son &\; Dixon’s line has been obliterated\; New York has become as Vi rginia\; and the power to hold\, hunt\, and sell men\, women and childreH\ , as slaves\, remains no longer a mere state institution\, but is now an i nstitution of the whole United States. The power is co-extensive with the star-spangled banner\, and American Christianity. Where these go\, may als o go the merciless slave-hunter. Where these are\, man is not sacred. He i s a bird for the sportsman’s gun./ By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees\, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. You r broad republican domain is hunting ground for men. Not for thieves and r obbers\, enemies of society\, merely\, but for men guilty of no crime. You r law-makers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sp ort. Your President\, your Secretary of State\, your lords\, nobles\, and ecclesiastics\, enforce\, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious coun try\, and to your God\, that you do this accursed thing. Not fewer than fo rty Americans\, have\, within the past two years\, been hunted down\, and\ , without a moment’s warning\, hurried away in chains\, and consigned to slavery\, and excruciating torture. Some of these have had wives and chil dren\, dependent on them for bread\; but of this\, no account was made. Th e right of the hunter to his prey\, stands superior to the right of marria ge\, and to all rights in this republic\, the rights of God included! For black men there are neither law\, justice\, humanity\, nor religion.The Fu gitive Slave Law makes MERCY TO THEM\, A CRIME\; and bribes the judge who tries them. An American JUDGE GETS TEN DOLLARS FOR EVERY VICTIM HE CONSIGN S to slavery\, and five\, when he fails to do so. The oath of any two vill ains is sufficient\, under this hell-black enactment\, to send the most pi ous and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery! His own testimony is nothing. He can bring no witnesses for himself. The minister of American justice is bound\, by the law to hear but one side\; and that side\, is the side of the oppressor. Let this damning fact be perpetually told. Let it be thundered around the world\, that\, in tyrant-killing\, ki ng-hating\, people-loving\, democratic\, Christian America\, the seats of justice are filled with judges\, who hold their offices under an open and palpable bribes\, and are bound\, in deciding in the case of a man’s lib erty\, to hear only his accusers!In glaring violation of justice\, in sham eless disregard of the forms of administering law\, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenceless\, and in diabolical intent\, this Fugitive Slav e Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. I doubt if the re be another nation on the globe\, having the brass and the baseness to p ut such a law on the statute-book. If any man in this assembly thinks diff erently from me in this matter\, and feels able to disprove my statements\ , I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.I take this law to be one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty\, and\, if the churches and ministers of our country were not stupidly blind\, or most wickedly indifferent\, they\, too\, woul d so regard it.At the very moment that they are thanking God for the enjoy ment of civil and religious liberty\, and for the right to worship God acc ording to the dictates of their own consciences\, they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance\, and ma kes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness. Did this law conc ern the “mint\, anise and cummin” —abridge the right to sing psalms\ , to partake of the sacrament\, or to engage in any of the ceremonies of r eligion\, it would be smitten by the thunder of a thousand pulpits. A gene ral shout would go up from the church\, demanding repeal\, repeal\, instan t repeal!—And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to soli cit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. F urther\, if this demand were not complied with\, another Scotland would be added to the history of religious liberty\, and the stern old covenanters would be thrown into the shade. A John Knox would be seen at every church door\, and heard from every pulpit\, and Fillmore would have no more quar ter than was shown by Knox\, to the beautiful\, but treacherous Queen Mary of Scotland.—The fact that the church of our country\, (with fractional exceptions\,) does not esteem “the Fugitive Slave Law” as a declarati on of war against religious liberty\, implies that that church regards rel igion simply as a form of worship\, an empty ceremony\, and not a vital pr inciple\, requiring active benevolence\, justice\, love and good will towa rds man. It esteems sacrifice above mercy\; psalm-singing above right doin g\; solemn meetings above practical righteousness. A worship that can be c onducted by persons who refuse to give shelter to the houseless\, to give bread to the hungry\, clothing to the naked\, and who enjoin obedience to a law forbidding these acts of mercy\, is a curse\, not a blessing to mank ind. The Bible addresses all such persons as “scribes\, pharisees\, hypo crites\, who pay tithe of mint\, anise\, and cummin\, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law\, judgment\, mercy and faith.”THE CHURCH R ESPONSIBLE.But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the w rongs of the slave\, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. It has m ade itself the bulwark of American slavery\, and the shield of American sl ave-hunters. Many of its most eloquent Divines\, who stand as the very lig hts of the church\, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion\, and the bible\, to the whole slave system.—They have taught that man may\, p roperly\, be a slave\; that the relation of master and slave is ordained o f God\; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ\; and this horrible bla sphemy is palmed off upon the world for christianity.For my part\, I would say\, welcome infidelity! welcome atheism! welcome anything! in preferenc e to the gospel\, as preached by those Divines! They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny\, and barbarous cruelty\, and serve to confirm more infidels\, in this age\, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine\, Voltaire\, and Bolingbroke\, put together\, have done? The se ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing\, having neithe r principles of right action\, nor bowels of compassion. They strip the lo ve of God of its beauty\, and leave the throne of religion a huge\, horrib le\, repulsive form. It is a religion for oppressors\, tyrants\, man-steal ers\, and thugs. It is not that “pure and undefiled religion” which is from above\, and which is “first pure\, then peaceable\, easy to be ent reated\, full of mercy and good fruits\, without partiality\, and without hypocrisy.” But a religion which favors the rich against the poor\; whic h exalts the proud above the humble\; which divides mankind into two class es\, tyrants and slaves\; which says to the man in chains\, stay there\; a nd to the oppressor\, oppress on\; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind\; it makes God a respecter of persons\, denies his fatherhood of the race\, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. All this we affirm to be true of the popular church\, and the popular worship of our land and n ation—a religion\, a church and a worship which\, on the authority of in spired wisdom\, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of God. In the language of Isaiah\, the American church might be well addressed\, “ Bring no more vain oblations\; incense is an abomination unto me : the new moons and Sabbaths\, the calling of assemblies\, I cannot away with it is iniquity\, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons\, and your appointed f easts my soul hatest. They are a trouble to me\; I am weary to bear them\; and when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea! when ye make many prayers\, I will not hear. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD\ ; cease to do evil\, learn to do well\; seek judgment\; relieve the oppres sed\; judge for the fatherless\; plead for the widow.”The American churc h is guilty\, when viewed in connection with what it is doing to uphold sl avery\; but it is superlatively guilty when viewed in connection with its ability to abolish slavery.The sin of which it is guilty is one of omissio n as well as of commission. Albert Barnes but uttered what the common sens e of every man at all observant of the actual state of the case will recei ve as truth\, when he declared that “There is no power out of the church that could sustain slavery an hour\, if it were not sustained in it.”Le t the religious press\, the pulpit\, the sunday school\, the conference me eting\, the great ecclesiastical\, missionary\, bible and tract associatio ns of the land array their immense powers against slavery\, and slave-hold ing\; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the wi nds\, and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful respons ibility of which the mind can conceive.In prosecuting the anti-slavery ent erprise\, we have been asked to spare the church\, to spare the ministry\; but how\, we ask\, could such a thing be done? We are met on the threshol d of our efforts for the redemption of the slave\, by the church. and mini stry of the country\, in battle arrayed against us\; and we are compelled to fight or flee. From what quarter\, I beg to know\, has proceeded a fire so deadly upon our ranks\, during the last two years\, as from the Northe rn pulpit? As the champions of oppressors\, the chosen men of American the ology have appeared—men\, honored for their so called piety\, and their real learning. The LORDS of Buffalo\, the SPRINGS of New York\, the LATHRO PS of Auburn\, the COXES and SPENCERS of Brooklyn\, the GANNETS and SHARPS of Boston\, the DEWEYS of Washington\, and other great religious lights o f the land\, have\, in utter denial of the authority of Him\, by whom they professed to be called to the ministry\, deliberately taught us\, against the example of the Hebrews\, and against the remonstrance of the Apostles \, they teach that we ought to obey man’s law before the law of God.” [sic]My spirit wearies of such blasphemy\; and how such men can be support ed\, as the “standing types and representatives of Jesus Christ\,” is a mystery which I leave others to penetrate. In speaking of the American c hurch\, however\, let it be distinctly understood that I mean the great ma ss of the religious organizations of our land. There are exceptions\, and I thank God that there are. Noble men may be found\, scattered all over th ese Northern States\, of whom Henry Ward Beecher\, of Brooklyn\, Samuel J. May\, of Syracuse\, and my esteemed friend* on the platform\, are shining examples\; and let me say further\, that\, upon these men lies the duty t o inspire our ranks with high religious faith and zeal\, and to cheer us o n in the great mission of the slave’s redemption from his chains.RELIGIO N IN ENGLAND AND RELIGION IN AMERICA.One is struck with the difference bet ween the attitude of the American church towards the anti-slavery movement \, and that occupied by the churches in England towards a similar movement in that country. There\, the church\, true to its mission of ameliorating \, elevating\, and improving the condition of mankind\, came forward promp tly\, bound up the wounds of the West Indian slave\, and restored him to h is liberty. There\, the question of emancipation was a high religious ques tion. It was demanded\, in the name of humanity\, and according to the law of the living God. The Sharps\, the Clarksons\, the Wilberforces\, the Bu xtons\, the Burchells and the Knibbs\, were alike famous for their piety\, and for their philanthropy. The anti-slavery movement there\, was not an anti-church movement\, for the reason that the church took its full share in prosecuting that movement : and the anti-slavery movement in this count ry will cease to be an anti-church movement\, when the church of this coun try shall assume a favorable\, instead of a hostile position towards that movement.Americans! your republican politics\, not less than your republic an religion\, are flagrantly inconsistent. You boast of your love of liber ty\, your superior civilization\, and your pure christianity\, while the w hole political power of the nation\, (as embodied in the two great politic al parties\, is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. You hurl your anathemas at the crow ned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria\, and pride yourselves on your De mocratic institutions\, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. You invite to you r shores fugitives of oppression from abroad\, honor them with banquets\, greet them with ovations\, cheer them\, toast them\, salute them\, protect them\, and pour out your money to them like water\; but the fugitives fro m your own land\, you advertise\, hunt\, arrest\, shoot and kill. You glor y in your refinement\, and your universal education\; yet you maintain a s ystem as barbarous and dreadful\, as ever stained the character of a natio n—a system begun in avarice\, supported in pride\, and perpetuated in cr uelty. You shed tears over fallen Hungary\, and make the sad story of her wrongs the theme of your poets\, statesmen and orators\, till your gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to vindicate her cause against her oppresso rs\; but\, in regard to the ten thousand wrongs of the American slave\, yo u would enforce the strictest silence\, and would hail him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make those wrongs the subject of public discourse! You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland\; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America.—You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor\; yet\, you sustain a system which\, in its very essence\, casts a stigma upon labor. You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery\, to throw off a three-penny tax on tea\; and yet wring the last hard earned farthing fro m the grasp of the black laborers of your country. You profess to believe “that\, of one blood\, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth\,” and hath commanded all men\, everywhere to love one another\; yet you notoriously hate\, (and glory in your hatred\,) all men whose skins are not colored like your own. You declare\, before the world\ , and are understood by the world to declare\, that you “hold these trut hs to be self evident\, that all men are created equal\; and are endowed b y their Creator with certain\, inalienable rights\; and that\, among these are\, life\, liberty\, and the pursuit of happiness\;” and yet\, you ho ld securely\, in a bondage\, which according to your own Thomas Jefferson\ , “is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to op pose\,” a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country.Fellow-citizen s! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existe nce of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham\, your humanity as a base pretence\, and your christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion\; it makes your name a hissing\, and a bye-word to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government\, the onl y thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. It fetters your progress\; it is the enemy of improvement\, the deadly foe of education\; it fosters pride\; it breeds insolence\; it promotes vice\; it shelters cr ime\; it is a curse to the earth that supports it\; and yet\, you cling to it\, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Oh! be warned! be warned! a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation’s bosom\; the ven omous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic\; for the love of God\, tear away\, and fling from you the hideous monster\ , and let the weight of twenty millions\, crush and destroy it forever!THE CONSTITUTION.But it is answered in reply to all this\, that precisely wha t I have now denounced is\, in fact\, guaranteed and sanctioned by the Con stitution of the United States\; that\, the right to hold\, and to hunt sl aves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of t his Republic.Then\, I dare to affirm\, notwithstanding all I have said bef ore\, your fathers stooped\, basely stooped.“To palter with us in a doub le sense : And keep the word of promise to the ear\, But break it to the heart.”And instead of being the honest men I have before declared them to be\, they were the veriest imposters that ever practised on mankind. Th is is the inevitable conclusion\, and from it there is no escape\; but I d iffer from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constituti on of the United States. It is a slander upon their memory\, at least\, so I believe. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length\; nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner\, Es q.\, by William Goodell\, by Samuel E. Sewall\, Esq.\, and last\, though n ot least\, by Gerritt Smith\, Esq. These gentlemen have\, as I think\, ful ly and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slav ery for an hour.Fellow-citizens! there is no matter in respect to which\, the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon\, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant\, license\, nor sanction of the hateful thing\; but interpreted\, as it ought to be interpreted\, the Con stitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble\, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the te mple? it is neither. While I do not intend to argue this question on the p resent occasion\, let me ask\, if it be not somewhat singular that\, if th e Constitution were intended to be\, by its framers and adopters\, a slave -holding instrument\, why neither slavery\, slaveholding\, nor slave can a nywhere be found in it. What would be thought of an instrument\, drawn up\ , legally drawn up\, for the purpose of entitling the city of Rochester to a track of land\, in which no mention of land was made? Now\, there are c ertain rules of interpretation\, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. These rules are well established. They are plain\, common-se nse rules\, such as you and I\, and all of us\, can understand and apply\, without having passed years in the study of law. I scout the idea that th e question of the constitutionality\, or unconstitutionality of slavery\, is not a question for the people. I hold that every American citizen has a right to form an opinion of the constitution\, and to propagate that opin ion\, and to use all honorable means to make his opinion the prevailing on e. Without this right\, the liberty of an American citizen would be as ins ecure as that of a Frenchman. Ex-Vice-President Dallas tells us that the c onstitution is an object to which no American mind can be too attentive\, and no American heart too devoted. He further says\, the constitution\, in its words\, is plain and intelligible\, and is meant for the home-bred\, unsophisticated understandings of our fellow-citizens. Senator Berrien tel ls us that the Constitution is the fundamental law\, that which controls a ll others. The charter of our liberties\, which every citizen has a person al interest in understanding thoroughly. The testimony of Senator Breese\, Lewis Cass\, and many others that might be named\, who are everywhere est eemed as sound lawyers\, so regard the constitution. I take it\, therefore \, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of t hat instrument.Now\, take the constitution according to its plain reading\ , and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes\, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.I have detained my audience entirely too long already. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an o pportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion.Allow me to say \, in conclusion\, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presen ted\, of the state of the nation\, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation\, which must inevitably\, work the downfall of sl avery. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened\,” and the doom of slaver y is certain.I\, therefore\, leave off where I began\, with hope. While dr awing encouragement from “the Declaration of Independence\,” the great principles it contains\, and the genius of American Institutions\, my spi rit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not n ow stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nat ion can now shut itself up\, from the surrounding world\, and trot round i n the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could f ormerly fence themselves in\, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few\, and the m ultitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. T he arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligen ce is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway o ver and under the sea\, as well as on the earth. Wind\, steam\, and lightn ing are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide\, but link nations t ogether. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is compar atively annihilated.—Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic\, ar e distinctly heard on the other.The far off and almost fabulous Pacific ro lls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire\, the mystery of ages\, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty\, “Let there be Light\,” has not yet spent its force. No abuse\, no outrage whether in taste\, sport o r avarice\, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron sho e\, and crippled foot of China must be seen\, in contrast with nature. Afr ic must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. “Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God.” In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Gar rison\, I say\, and let every heart join in saying it :God speed the year of jubileeThe wide world o’er!When from their galling chains set free\ ,Th’ oppress’d shall vilely bend the knee\,And wear the yoke of tyrann yLike brutes no more.That year will come\, and freedom’s reign\,To man h is plundered rights againRestore.God speed the day when human bloodShall c ease to flow!In every clime be understood\,The claims of human brotherhood \,And each return for evil\, good\,Not blow for blow\;That day will come a ll feuds to end\,And change into a faithful friendEach foe.God speed the h our\, the glorious hour\,When none on earthShall exercise a lordly power\, Nor in a tyrant’s presence cower\;But all to manhood’s stature tower\, By equal birth!THAT HOUR WILL COME\, to each\, to all\,And from his prison -house\, the thrallGo forth.Until that year\, day\, hour\, arrive\,With he ad\, and heart\, and hand I’ll strive\,To break the rod\, and rend the g yve\,The spoiler of his prey deprive—So witness Heaven!And never from my chosen post\,Whate’er the peril or the cost\,Be driven._____________* R ev. R. R. Raymond.COMMENT AMENDMENTSUSA 250th Birthday Celebration Great A merican State Fair - Culture\, Race &\; Economy - African American Lite rature Book Club@aka Contrarian It is here:) What to the slave is the 4th of July? from Frederick Douglass - RMCommunityCalendar - African American Literature Book Clubyes\, it is eternally timely for the United States of America because its very founders or earliest supporters\, like black bus iness owner who fought alngside james forten\, biggest support for the USA isn't its condition but its ability to change. The USA was never and is not the land of freedom or peace or equality or profit\, but it is the lan d that has embraced a way to change officially\, that was a rarity and now is front and center to an important question. What defines a person's con nection to a country? The federation of international football association s has a world cup being played in the usa at the time of this writing and many of the teams show the identity of many countries through immigration has become something in dire need of consensus. South Africa is kicking ou t black people from other parts of africa. Japan has a black goalkeeper.ME xico's biggest star is a black man\, a negra\, who was touted in mexican m edia as someone taking away from mexicans. Many countries are dealing with the challenge of immigration. The first people or indigenous folk never i nvited or wanted white european people to colonize their lands but it happ ened and that was the first round of immigration to the lands that are the usa. that immigration led to the annihilation of many first peoples but s tarted the ball into modernity. Who are you? can be answered by any indivi dual. But\, in many countries today a majority has a description that does n't suit may minorities. Frederick Douglass asked what connection does the enslaved have to the usa. what connection does anyone have to the usa? o r anywhere? IS it a place you like to live in? IS it a place you honor bas ed on forebears?IS it a place you simply make the best of cause you are th ere?Is it a place where people around you make the decision for you? Are n ative americans connected to the usa cause their forebears were here first or were annihilated by others to make the usa?Are white americans connect ed to the usa cause they wrote its laws and birthed it or do they see them selves as individuals who masquerade as a group only for convenience?Are b lack americans connected to the usa cause they had ancestors who fought to birth the usa and integrated their lives no matter what non blacks did or cause they have no where else to go and would rather live happy as can be in a place not their own?Are modern immigrants connected to the usa cause they wanted the fiscal opportunity they couldn't get in the country whose flag they wave while sitting nicely in the usa or because they simply see the world as one home no matter if all their neighbors post that?All coun tries have minorities but not all majorities have the power to decide all on thier own. In the usa \, the old white majority of the past isn't enoug h. so a new majority is needed.@ProfD thank you for the numbers. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260701 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR