Page:The African Slave Trade (Clark).djvu/100

 men have already spoken out against the slave trade. Let such men be multiplied and sustained, and the South may be saved from self-destruction, and the nation from the guilt of that gigantic crime into which many are so madly plunging.

We rejoice that our northern State legislatures are waking up to the magnitude of this evil.

The following resolution against this traffic was passed April 12, 1859, by the New York State Assembly, by a vote of 101 to 6:

"Resolved, (if the Senate concur,) That the citizens of this State look with surprise and detestation upon the virtual opening of the slave trade within the Federal Union: that against this invasion of our laws, of our feelings, and of the dictates of Christianity, we solemnly protest: that we call upon the citizens of the Union to make cause in the name of religion and humanity, and as friends of the principles underlying our system of government, to unite in bringing to immediate arrest and punishment all persons engaged in the unlawful and wicked trade, and hereby instruct our senators and representatives in Congress to exert all lawful power for the immediate suppression of this infamous traffic.

"Resolved, That the Executive of this State be required to transmit a copy of this resolution to the legislatures of the several States of this Union, and earnestly request their coöperation in arresting this great wickedness.

Would that every legislature that professes to love liberty, would follow the noble example set by the Empire State! Would that every