
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY ALMANAC. _______________________________________________ Strength of the North. The north has always had a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. [[9 columned table]] | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Year. |1789|1793|1803|1813|1819|1823|1833|1839| | North.|35 |57 |77 |103 |105 |124 |141 |142 | | South.|30 |50 |65 |79 |81 |90 |99 |100 | | Maj. |5 |7 |12 |24 |24 |34 |42 |42 | In the Senate the north had a majority of two, (except from 1796 to 1802,) till 1812, when the admission of Louisiana equalized the representation in that body. Still in the north, having power to choose the Vice President, may have the casting vote. It follows that every act of the nation is an act of the free nation. They are virtually the nation. Whatever Congress does, or refuses to do, the final responsibility rests upon the free states. The only way to absolve ourselves from the guilt and shame of our national crimes is to discard those who perpetrate them, and choose men to represent us who will not vote down the foundation principles of our government. After the new apportionment, which will take effect in 1842, the representation on a basis of 60,000 will be, north 154, south 97; north majority, 57. On the admission of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Florida, which will doubtless take effect in 1843, it will be 156 to 98; north majority, 58. The Senate will then stand, north 30, south 28; north majority, 2. The electoral vote will then be, north 186, south 126; north majority, 60! ________________________________________________ "To the Polls." BY SUSAN WILSON. Father! in a happy home, Smiling when thy children come, Clustering around thy knee, Wilt thou have those children free? Have them, one day, firmly stand On their "own," their "native land," Never for a single hour, Helpless slaves of tyrant power; Have the proffer'd gifts of heaven, Chainless hand, unbranded brow, Ever to the loved ones given? To the polls! - secure them now. Husband! who each passing year Provest thy chosen one more dear, Think of many a deep felt trial, Uncomplaining self denial; Torturing cares in silence borne, Smiles of love, forever worn; All her warm heart's pure affection, - Every claim on thy protection! Be her breast to fear a stranger! Though the threat'ning Southrons come, Guard her from approaching danger, To the polls! - protect her home. Brother, with a parent's care! He who filled that vacant chair, He who watched the early years With a father's hopes and fears, Left a sacred charge to thee, - Blooming youth and infancy! Guard that precious charge from wrong! Threat'ning ills around them throng; Though a darkening cloud is o'er thee, Heed it now! - serenely bright Is the narrow path before thee, To the polls! - support the right. Freemen! would you still be free? As ye prize your liberty, As you wish your sons may stand With unfettered soul and hand; As ye feel for those who've borne Undeserved reproach and scorn; As ye do not seek to find Heavier chains the slave to bind; As ye will not, lowly kneeling, Bend your own necks to the chain - Oh! by every generous feeling, To the polls! - ne'er pause again. ___________________________________________ A Church Sorely Bitten. The committee of funds of Old School Presbyterians, lately reported, forty three thousand three hundred and fifty four dollars, exclusive funds invested in the Vicksburg bank-as having been lost by the depreciation in the value of stocks, chiefly in the South and South West. The amount sunk in the Vicksburg Bank is supposed to be very large. So much for church investments among those who trade in the souls of bodies and men. ________________________________________________ Page 2 AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY ALMANAC. ________________________________________________ Relief for Sorrow. The following stanzas, by the late Rev. C. Wilcox, contain true philosophy, as well as poetry of surpassing beauty. Wouldst thou from sorrow find a sweet relief, Or is thy heart oppressed with woes untold? Balm wouldst thou gather for corroding grief?- Pour blessings round thee, like a shower of gold. Rouse to some word of high and holy love, And thou an angel's happiness shalt know - Shalt bless the earth, while in the world above: The good begun by thee shall onward flow, In many a branching stream, and wider grow; The seed that in these few and fleeting hours, Thy hands unsparing and unwearied sow, Shall deck thy grave with amaranthine flowers, And yield the fruits divine, in heaven's immortal bowers. ________________________________________________ Education Maxims. The following maxims, from the Common School Almanac for 1842, will show where the strength and wealth and improvement of the country are found. Remarks are added in brackets. PROTECTION. - "Education," said Edmund Burke, "is the cheap defence of nations." [In the slave states, the mass of the people are uneducated, and the slave community is unprotected.] INSURANCE. - Education is the great Insurance Company, which insures all other insurance companies. The safety of life and the security of property lie in the virtue and intelligence of the people; for what force has law, unless there is intelligence to perceive its justice, and virtue to which that law can appeal. [Hence the insecurity of both life and property throughout the south, and the anxiety of slaveholders to remove their families and their capital to the north.] AGRICULTURE. - The soil does not produce according to its natural richness, but according to the intelligence that works it. Therefore, the best manure farmers can obtain, is good school for the district where their children are to receive the entire education. A good school will make the rich soil a blessing, and the barren one productive. [Who wonders that the soil of the south wears out, when "the intelligence that works it" is systematically reduced to the lowest possible degree?] GOVERNMENT. - To govern men, there must be either Soldiers or Schoolmasters, Books or Bayonets, Camps or Campaigns, or Schools and Churches - the cartridge box or the ballot box. [The south is governed by the bowie knife and whip, and governs the north by the power of sectarian and party discipline.] ECONOMY. - I would say, It is cheaper to educate the infant mind, than to support the aged criminal. Yes, bestow the pence on common schools, and save the pounds on prisons. Man was not made to be sent to prison, but to be educated; and "the very worst use you can put a man to is to hang him." [The next worst use of a man is to make him a slave; for "Jove fix'd it certain that whatever day Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away." UNKNOWN LAWS. - The writer was once passing through a park and saw nailed to one of the trees, this warning: "All dogs found in this park will be shot." A friend who was with us, remarked, "unless dogs can read they are pretty badly off here." Now a man not able to read is worse off than the dog, for the dog has a master to read for him; but man has no master between him and his God. [How dreadful the cruelty of making statutes, as is done in the slave states, to punish men who cannot read them, and how satanical the sacrilege of prohibiting man from learning to read the laws of his God.]
Transcription Notes:
edited table as per instructions