Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life: And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of AmericaWalker, David
History
Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life: And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America
Walker, David
Slavery -- United States
"There," said he, "was a peculiar, a moral fitness, in
restoring them to the land of their fathers, and if instead
of the evils and sufferings which we had been the innocent
cause of inflicting upon the inhabitants of Africa, we can
transmit to her the blessings of our arts, our civilization,
and our religion. May we not hope that America will
extinguish a great portion of that moral debt which she has
contracted to that unfortunate continent? Can there be a
nobler cause than that which, whilst it proposes, &c * * * * *
[you know what this means.] contemplates the spreading of
the arts of civilized life, and the possible redemption from
ignorance and barbarism of a benighted quarter of the
globe?"
Before I proceed any further, I solicit your notice, brethren, to the
foregoing part of Mr. Clay's speech, in which he says, ([Hand->] look
above)
"and if, instead of the evils and sufferings, which we had
been the innocent cause of inflicting,"
&c. What this very learned statesman could have been thinking about,
when he said in his speech, "we had been the innocent cause of
inflicting," etc., I have never been able to conceive. Are Mr. Clay
and the rest of the Americans, innocent of the blood and groans of
our fathers and us, their children? Every individual may plead
innocence, if he pleases, but God will, before long, separate the
innocent from the guilty, unless something is speedily done--which I
suppose will hardly be, so that their destruction may be sure. Oh
Americans! let me tell you, in the name of the Lord, it will be good
for you, if you listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost, but if you do
not you are ruined!!!! Some of you are good men; but the will of my
God must be done. Those avaricious and ungodly tyrants among you, I am
awfully afraid will drag down the vengeance of God upon you.--When God
Almighty commences his battle on the continent of America, for the
oppression of his people, tyrants will wish they never were born.
But to return to Mr. Clay, whence I digressed. He says,
"It was proper and necessary distinctly to state, that he
understood it constituted no part of the object of this
meeting, to touch or agitate in the slightest degree, a
delicate question, connected with another portion of the
coloured population of our country. It was not proposed to
deliberate upon or consider at all, any question of
emancipation, or that which was connected with the abolition
of slavery. It was upon that condition alone, he was sure,
that many gentlemen from the South and the West, whom he saw
present, had attended, or could be expected to co-operate.
It was on that condition only, that he himself had
attended."
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account