Page:A Chapter on Slavery.djvu/155

 men of the South, of whom there are, doubtless, hundreds of thousands, — to the question whether there be not some mode in which a system of things, so plainly wrong in itself, can be gradually removed, in a manner to be. truly beneficial to all parties concerned. Where there is a will, there is a way. It is a sound theological principle, that every evil — after it is seen by the light of truth to be such — may be sooner or later removed. To think otherwise would be to make the good Creator the author or upholder of evil; for it would be to charge the Governor of the Universe with having provided no way of escape from sin and misery. But He always provides a way: man has only to seek, and he will find it. Let the noblest men of the South, then, give their minds to this task: what greater glory could there be for a legislator than to accomplish it? It must, indeed, be a slow and gradual work; for since there are fifteen different slave-holding States, all entirely independent of each other, at least fifteen different Acts must in any case be passed, before slavery could be generally abolished. But let some one State but lead the way, and others will soon be found ready to follow. Who shall it be? Which State will Open this campaign against wrong? Which will have the moral courage to set this ball in motion?. Kentucky, the State of Henry Clay! Will not she have the magnanimity — disregarding the denunciations of opponents — to take up the question where she left it, and pass a law ordaining that henceforth every little human being, white or black, born into existence within the limits of that State, shall be free? Such a step would raise