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labours , they rejoiced la the inheritance which they found bequeathed to them . * —Pp . 40—* 5 . Mr . Webster briefly traces the history of tlie United States on which , ana especially on the great event of the Ttevolution , he Justly thinks that the peculiar , original character of the New- England colonies has had a strong and decided influence . One feet is stated by him which does great honour to those colonists , viz ,, that
the Revolution which deposed James II . from the British throne , was actuaMy begun in Massachusetts ! The eloquent speaker is raised into Mgh and swelling language by the reviewr of the improvements that have taken place in America , and of the
nature and constitution of society and government in that interesting country- There is scarcely an hyperbole , howerer , in his loftiest description * . He glories , like a wise and good man , In the provision which is made in the constitutions of all the United States
for universal education , but does not seem inclined to overrate the degree of intelligence or literature actually attained by his countrymen . On one topic he dilates vrith a feeling and power which axe honourable to himself , to his auditory , and may we not say to the land which gave him birth 2
" 1 deem H my duty on this occasion to suggest , that the land is not yet wholly free from the contamination of a traffic , at which every feeHng of humanity must for ever revolt—1 mean the African Slave Trade . Neither public sentiment nor the law , has hitherto been able entirel y tt > put an end to this odious and
abomiirable trade . At the moment when God , in his mercy , has blessed tte Christian world with an universal peace , there is i *? ason to fear , that , to the disgrace of the "Christian name and character , new efforts are making for the extension of this trade , by subjects and citizens of Christian states , in whose hearts no
sentiment of humanity or justice inhabits , and over whom neither the fear of God nor the fear of man exercises a eontroul . In the sight of our law , the African slave-trader is u pirate and a Won ; and in the sight of Heaven , an
offender far beyond tlwi ordinary depth of human guilt . There is no brighter part of our history than thai which records the measures which have been adopted by the government , at an early day , and at different times since , for the suppres-
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sion of this traffic % and J would c ^ U 0 M all the true sons 4 > f New Eoglan ^ tr > co-operate with the laws of man ftnd * the justice of Heavea- If there be , within the extent of our knowledge or iafl ueuce any participation in tins traffic , Jet us pledge ourselves here , upon the Rock of Plymouth , to extirpate and destroy it
It is not fit that the land of the Pilgr im should bear the shame longer , l bear the sound of the hammer , I gee the siooke of the furnaces where maaades and fetters are still forged for human limbs . I see the visages o £ those who by stealth aod at midnight , labour in
this work of hell , foul and dark , as may become the artificers of such instruments of misery and torture . Let that spot be purified , or let it cease to be of New England . Let it be purified , or let it be set aside from the Christian world ; let it be put out of the circle of human synj . pathies and human regards , and let
civilized man henceforth have no commuiiioii with it . I would invoke those who fill the sea < a of justice , and all who minister at her ahar , that they execute the wholesome and necessary severity of the law . I invoke the ministers of our religion , that they proclaim its demnKuatioa of these crimes , and add its sok'Hia sanctions to
the authority <* f human Jaws . If the pulpit be silent , whenever , ox wherever , there may be a sinner , bloody with this guilt , withiu the hearing of its voice , the pulpit is false to its trust . I call on the fair merchant , who has reaped his harvest upon the seas , that he assist in scourging from those seas the worsi pirates which ever infested them .
That ocean * which 6 eems to wave with a gentle xnagfufioeBce to waft the burdens of an ho * we $ t commerce , and to roll along its treasures wkli a conscious pride ; that ocean , which hardy industry regards , even when the winds have ruffled its surface , as a field of grateful toil ; what is it to the victim of this oppression ,
when he is brought to its shores , and looks forth upon it , for the first time , from beneath chains , and bleeding with stripes ? What is it to him , but a widespread prospect of suffering , anguish and death ? Nor do the skies smile longer , nor is the air longer fiagraut to him . The sun is cast down from heaven . An
inhuman and accursed traffic has cut him off in his manhood , or in his youth , from every enjoyment belonging to his being , and every bleastotg which his Creator intended for him . , " The Christian communi ties se ** i forth their emissaries of religion and letters , who stop , here aod Ahere , along ti *
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344 Commemoration * f the First Setifoment qf New England .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1822, page 344, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2513/page/24/
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