It should
make this a day of fasting and prayer, not of boisterous merriment and
idle pageantry--a day of great lamentation, not of congratulatory joy.
It should spike every cannon, and haul down every banner. Our garb
should be sack-cloth--our heads bowed in the dust--our supplications for
the pardon and assistance of Heaven.
"Sirs, I am not come to tell you that slavery is a curse, debasing in
its effects, cruel in its operations, fatal in its continuance. The day
and the occasion require no such revelation. I do not claim the
discovery as my own, that 'all men are born equal,' and that among their
inalienable rights are 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'
Were I addressing any other than a free and Christian assembly, the
enforcement of this truth might be pertinent. Neither do I intend to
analyze the horrors of slavery for your inspection, nor to freeze your
blood with authentic recitals of savage cruelty. Nor will time allow me
to explore even a furlong of that immense wilderness of suffering which
remains unsubdued in our land. I take it for granted that the existence
of these evils is acknowledged, if not rightly understood. My object is
to define and enforce our duty, as Christians and philanthropists."
This was, by way of exordium, the powerful skirmish line of the address.
Assuming the existence of the evil, he advanced boldly to his theme,
viz.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73