LETTER TO A FREE-SOIL CONVENTION AT WORCESTER,
JULY 6, 1852.
This Convention was organized with the following officers: Hon. Stephen
C. Phillips, of Salem, President,--William Davis, of Plymouth, Gershom
B. Weston, of Duxbury, Edward L. Keyes, of Dedham, William B. Spooner,
of Boston, John G. Palfrey, of Cambridge, John B. Alley, of Lynn,
Samuel E. Sewall, of Stoneham, John W. Graves, of Lowell, John Milton
Earle, of Worcester, William Jackson, of Newton, Rodolphus B. Hubbard,
of Sunderland, Caleb Swan, of Easton, Joel Hayden, of Williamsburg,
William M. Walker, of Pittsfield, Vice-Presidents,--Robert Carter, of
Cambridge, George F. Hoar, of Worcester, S.B. Howe, of Lowell, Andrew
J. Aiken, of North Adams, S.L. Gere, of Northampton, Secretaries.
The resolutions were reported by Hon. Henry Wilson.
WASHINGTON CITY, July 3, 1852.
Dear Sir,--The true and well-tried friends of Freedom in
Massachusetts are about to assemble at Worcester. It will not
be in my power to be with them, to catch the contagion of their
enthusiasm, to be strengthened by their determination, and to learn
anew from eloquent lips the grandeur of our cause and the exigency
of our duties. But I confidently look to them for trumpet words
which shall again rally the country against the _sectionalism_ of
Slavery.
At Worcester, in 1848, commenced the first strong movement, which,
gaining new force at Buffalo, and sweeping the Free States,
enrolled three hundred thousand electors in constitutional
opposition to a hateful wrong. The occasion now requires a similar
effort. Both the old parties, with apostasy greater than that
which aroused our condemnation at that time, have trampled on the
Declaration of Independence, and the most cherished sentiments of
the Fathers of the Republic. Even liberty of speech is threatened.
It is difficult to see how any person, loyal to Freedom, and
desirous of guarding it by all constitutional means, can support
the national candidates of either of these parties, without
surrendering the cause he professes to have at heart. Let no man
expect from me any such surrender.
The two Conventions at Baltimore, by their recorded resolutions,
have vied with each other in servility to Slavery. But I rejoice
to believe that in both parties there are large numbers of good
men who will scorn these professions. The respectable persistence
in opposition to the Black Flag, which distinguished at least one
of the Conventions, furnishes an earnest for the future, though
Massachusetts can derive small encouragement from her delegates
there. All her votes in that Convention were cast in favor of those
declarations by which Slavery has received new safeguards and
Freedom new restrictions.
But these efforts are doomed to disappointment. In spite of the
clamors of partisans and the assumptions of the Slave Power, there
is one principle which must soon prevail. It cannot be too often
declared; for it is an all-sufficient basis for our political
position, and an answer also to the cry of "Sectionalism," by
which the prejudices of the country are ignorantly and illogically
directed against us. According to the true spirit of the
Constitution and the sentiments of the Fathers, _Freedom_, and
not Slavery, is _national_, while _Slavery_, and not Freedom, is
_sectional_. Though this proposition commends itself at once,
and is sustained by the history of the Constitution, yet both
the great parties, under the influence of the Slave Power, have
reversed the true application of its terms. A _National_ Whig
is simply a Slavery Whig, and a _National_ Democrat is simply a
Slavery Democrat, in contradistinction to all who regard Slavery
as a _sectional_ institution, within the exclusive control of the
States, and with which the Nation has nothing to do. In upholding
Freedom everywhere under the _National_ Government, we oppose a
pernicious _sectionalism_, which falsely calls itself _national_.
All this will yet be seen and acknowledged.
Amidst the difficulties and defections at the present moment, the
Future is clear. Nothing can permanently obstruct Truth. But our
duties increase with the occasion; nor will the generous soul be
deterred by the greatness of the peril. Any such will be content
to serve Freedom, to support her supporters, and to leave the
result to Providence. Better be where Freedom is, though in a
small minority or alone, than with Slavery, though surrounded by
multitudes, whether Whigs or Democrats, contending merely for
office and place.
Believe me, dear Sir, ever faithfully yours,