“But the plea is prevalent,” he said, “that any interference by the free States, however benevolent or cautious it might be, would only irritate and inflame the jealousies of the South, and retard the cause of emancipation.  If any man believes that slavery can be abolished without a struggle with the worst passions of human nature, quietly, harmoniously, he cherishes a delusion.  It can never be done, unless the age of miracles returns.  No; we must expect a collision, full of sharp asperities and bitterness.  We shall have to contend with the insolence, and pride, and selfishness of many a heartless being.

“Sirs, the prejudices of the North are stronger than those of the South; they bristle like so many bayonets around the slaves; they forge and rivet the chains of the nation.  Conquer them and the victory is won.  The enemies of emancipation take courage from our criminal timidity....  We are ... afraid of our own shadows, who have been driven back to the wall again and again; who stand trembling under their whips; who turn pale, retreat, and surrender at a talismanic threat to dissolve the Union....”  But the difficulties did not daunt him, nor the dangers cow him.  He did not doubt, but was assured, that truth was mighty and would prevail.  “Moral influence when in vigorous exercise,” he said, “is irresistible.  It has an immortal essence.  It can no more be trod out of existence by the iron foot of time, or by the ponderous march of iniquity, than matter can be annihilated.  It may disappear for a time; but it lives in some shape or other, in some place or other, and will rise with renovated strength.  Let us then be up and doing.  In the simple and stirring language of the stout-hearted Lundy, all the friends of the cause must go to work, keep to work, hold on, and never give up.”  The closing paragraph is this powerful peroration:  “I will say, finally, that I despair of the republic while slavery exists therein.  If I look up to God for success, no smile of mercy or forgiveness dispels the gloom of futurity; if to our own resources, they are daily diminishing; if to all history our destruction is not only possible but almost certain.  Why should we slumber at this momentous crisis?  If our hearts were dead to every thought of humanity; if it were lawful to oppress, where power is ample; still, if we had any regard for our safety and happiness, we should strive to crush the vampire which is feeding upon our life-blood.  All the selfishness of our nature cries aloud for a better security.  Our own vices are too strong for us, and keep us in perpetual alarm; how, in addition to these, shall we be able to contend successfully with millions of armed and desperate men, as we must, eventually, if slavery do not cease?” Exit the apprentice, enter the master.  The period of preparation is ended, the time of action begun.  The address was the fiery cry of the young prophet ere he plunged into the unsubdued wilderness of American slavery.