reland is more deplorable than that of the
American slaves. Far be it from me to underrate the sufferings of the
Irish people. They have been long oppressed; and the same heart
that prompts me to plead the cause of the American bondman, makes it
impossible for me not to sympathize with the oppressed of all lands. Yet
I must say that there is no analogy between the two cases. The Irishman
is poor, but he is not a slave. He may be in rags, but he is not a
slave. He is still the master of his own body, and can say with the
poet, "The hand of Douglass is his own." "The world is all before
him, where to choose;" and poor as may be my opinion of the British
parliament, I cannot believe that it will ever sink to such a depth
of infamy as to pass a law for the recapture of fugitive Irishmen! The
shame and scandal of kidnapping will long remain wholly monopolized by
the American congress. The Irishman has not only the liberty to emigrate
from his country, but he has liberty at home. He can write, and speak,
and cooperate for the attainment of his rights and the redress of his
wrongs.

The multitude can assemble upon all the green hills and fertile plains
of the Emerald Isle; they can pour out their grievances, and proclaim
their wants without molestation; and the press, that "swift-winged
messenger," can bear the tidings of their doings to the extreme bounds
of the civilized world. They have their "Conciliation Hall," on the
banks of the Liffey, their reform clubs, and their newspapers; they pass
resolutions, send forth addresses, and enjoy the right of petition. But
how is it with the American slave? Where may he assemble? Where is
his Conciliation Hall? Where are his newspapers? Where is his right of
petition? Where is his freedom of speech? his liberty of the press? and
his right of locomotion? He is said to be happy; happy men can speak.
But ask the slave what is his condition--what his state of mind--what he
thinks of enslavement? and you had as well address your inquiries to the
_silent dead_. There comes no _voice_ from the enslaved. We are left to
gather his feelings by imagining what ours would be, were our souls in
his soul's stead.

If there were no other fact descriptive of slavery, than that the slave
is dumb, this alone would be sufficient to mark the slave system as a
grand aggregation of human horrors.

Most who are present, will have observed that leading men in this{342}
country have been putting forth their