dded, one was a slave state and the other
free. Of the twelve free, independent, sovereign states of America to
which he had alluded--one, Massachusetts, had, for a longer time than
his opponent had lived, not tolerated slavery. There were no slaves in
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Maine, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois,
and in four of them there never had been a slave. Eight of them, of
their own free will and choice, abolished slavery without money and
without price. By the influence of the Spirit of God, and the
influence of divine truth, they had totally abolished slavery. Of the
twelve states, at least four, Ohio, with a million of inhabitants,
Indiana, Illinois, and Maine, never had a slave. Since 1785 till this
hour, there had not been one slave in any of these states. These
twelve either never had slaves or had abolished slavery without any
remuneration. These states contain seven million out of the eleven
million of the white population of the Union, and nearly two-thirds of
the territorial extent of the republic as now peopled. And when we
remember that they have stood as they now do for the last twenty
years, as it was now more than twenty years since slavery was
abolished, how could they be charged with the responsibility of the
existence of slavery in other states, or be charged with fostering
slavery which they were the first people upon earth to abolish, and
the first to unite with other nations in putting down the slave trade
as piracy. This he was aware would be denied; but though Wilberforce
had labored in the cause for twenty years, the American constitution
had fixed a limited time for the abolition of the slave trade, and the
moment the twenty years had elapsed, the Congress did abolish it; and
this was in the same month, and some days before the Abolition Bill
had passed through Parliament. Thus, America was the first nation on
earth which had abolished the slave trade, and made it piracy. If we
judge by the number of republics which tolerate no slavery--if we
judge by the number of American citizens who abhor slavery, it will be
found not to be an American question, but one applicable only to a
small portion of the nation. If he wished to prove that the British
were idolaters, he could point to millions of idolaters in India,
under the British Government, for every one in America who approved of
slavery. If he wished to prove the Br