THE WAY
TO
ABOLISH SLAVERY.
BY CHARLES STEARNS,
AUTHOR OF
"FACTS IN THE LIFE OF GEN. TAYLOR, &c.," "TAYLOR,
CASS AND VAN BUREN COMPARED," AND "ENCROACHMENTS
OF THE SLAVE-POWER UPON THE RIGHTS
OF THE NORTH."
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.
1849.
INTRODUCTION.
After the flood of light respecting the evils of the execrable system ofchattel Slavery, thrown upon the minds of the community by eighteenyears of Anti-Slavery preaching; it would seem almost a work ofsupererogation to attempt to cast any more light upon the subject;therefore in this work, nothing will be said in reference to this partof the subject; but every effort will be made to convince the reader ofthe efficacy of the remedy here proposed.
It will be necessary to say at the commencement of this work, that theauthor is no politician, and does not write for party purposes; neitheris he the agent, or the organ of any Anti-Slavery society, but writes onhis own authority, and that of truth; being responsible to no man forwhat he shall assert.
My object is to present to the public mind, what I deem to be the onlytrue and effectual remedy for the terrible disease of Slavery. If indoing this, you are condemned, reader, judge not hastily that I amwrong; but give me a candid and impartial hearing. In the [Pg iv]language ofthe apostle, "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good."
I am not a disunionist, from any wish to see anarchy casting its direfulshade over our land; but from a sincere desire to prevent "confusionworse confounded" from reigning in our midst, as most assuredly will bethe case if Slavery exists many years longer. Let us then "give thepull, the long pull, and the pull altogether," and drag this terrificmonster from his hiding place between the walls of the sanctuary, andthe halls of legislation, giving him no rest, until he flees from earth,back to perdition from whence he sprang.
THE AUTHOR.
THE WAY TO ABOLISH SLAVERY.
Slavery is the medium through which the corrupt passions of men flowwith resistless power. Beneath its influence every plant of virtuesickens and dies. Its putrid form taints the air which we breathe, andexhales all manner of foul odors, which render it so obnoxious to truthand purity, that these angels would speedily end its existence, if itwere not for the support it derives from other sources than itself.Although coarse and brawny in its outward appearance, yet it is withinfull of disease; and nothing but continual doses of medicine enable itto present the appearance of life. It is said that a celebratedmagnetiser, once preserved a dead body from putrefaction for a longtime, by the power of magnetism. At length he withdrew the magnetisingpower, and the body instantly crumbled to atoms. Thus with Slavery;withdraw the enchantments from it, which priests, politicians, andspeculators have thrown around it, and it expires of its own corruption.It lives only by this outward support, just as the virtue of some men iscaused only by their being paid or praised for it. Apply, then, thefinger of truth to its gigantic form; let but the mighty arm ofrighteousness lay hold of these sustaining influences, and sweep themfrom