Antislavery movements -- United States; Slavery -- United States
Long after Madison had left the ground, Mr. Listwell (our traveller)
remained in motionless silence, meditating on the extraordinary
revelations to which he had listened. He seemed fastened to the spot,
and stood half hoping, half fearing the return of the sable preacher to
his solitary temple. The speech of Madison rung through the chambers
of his soul, and vibrated through his entire frame. “Here is indeed
a man,” thought he, “of rare endowments,--a child of God,--guilty
of no crime but the color of his skin,--hiding away from the face of
humanity, and pouring out his thoughts and feelings, his hopes and
resolutions to the lonely woods; to him those distant church bells
have no grateful music. He shuns the church, the altar, and the great
congregation of christian worshippers, and wanders away to the gloomy
forest, to utter in the vacant air complaints and griefs, which the
religion of his times and his country can neither console nor relieve.
Goaded almost to madness by the sense of the injustice done him, he
resorts hither to give vent to his pent up feelings, and to debate
with himself the feasibility of plans, plans of his own invention, for
his own deliverance. From this hour I am an abolitionist. I have seen
enough and heard enough, and I shall go to my home in Ohio resolved
to atone for my past indifference to this ill-starred race, by making
such exertions as I shall be able to do, for the speedy emancipation of
every slave in the land.”
PART II.
“The gaudy, blabbling and remorseful day
Is crept into the bosom of the sea;
And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades
That drag the tragic melancholy night;
Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings
Clip dead men’s graves, and from their misty jaws
Breathe foul contagions, darkness in the air.”
_Shakspeare._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account