Storieta
English
Save & sign up

The opening · free to read

Consider it well-for an answer I crave,

That reaches the question of Master and Slave.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."--_Decl. of Ind_. It is nothing to affirm that the Negro, or Indian, or Arab, is not equal to the white man--namely, in talent and the like. No two white men are equal in all respects--but if you deny an equality of rights, specify the grounds of such denial.

|B Stands for Bloodhound On merciless fangs

The Slaveholder feels that his "property" hangs,

And the dog and the master are hot on the track,

To torture or bring the black fugitive back.

The weak has but fled from the hand of the strong,

Asserting the right and resisting the wrong,

While he who exults in a skin that is white,

A Bloodhound employs in asserting his might.

--O chivalry-layman and dogmatist-priest,

Say, which is the monster--the man, or the beast?

How long is it since Southern papers advertised the offers of rival hunters of fugitive Negroes, who claimed that they had the best bloodhounds, &c.? Truly an honorable and manly vocation. Runaway Slaves were advertised as having been torn by the dogs, thus and so, on former occasions of flight, and large rewards were offered for the capture of such ingrates, dead or alive! Shall not specimens of these advertisements be some day included in the literary curiosities of civilization?

|C Stands for Cotton Its beautiful bolls,

And bales of rich value, the Master controls.

Of "mud-sills" he prates, and would haughtily bring

The world to acknowledge that "Cotton is King."

But "_Democrat Coal_" and "_Republican Corn_,"

The locks of the monarch have latterly shorn;

And Slaveocrats, living by clamorous fraud,

By Freemen shall yet into learning be awed,

That the sceptre is not in position nor gift,

But only in honest, industrial thrift.

"What is the difficulty, and what the remedy? Not in the election of Republican Presidents. No. Not in the non-execution of the Fugitive bill. No. But it lies back of all these. It is found in the Atheistic Red Republican doctrine of the Declaration of Independence. Until that is trampled under feet, there can be no peace."--_Dr. Smyth_, a Rebel leader in South Carolina. "Mud-sills" and "poor white trash" seem not to his liking; but what if they should trample him under feet?

The book keeps going

Keep reading, and see it illustrated

Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.

Illustrated scene from The Great GatsbyIllustrated scene from Pride and PrejudiceIllustrated scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.

New illustrated classics

A new classic, drawn, in your inbox.

Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.