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LETTER 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN, 
 
 ON THE LAW RELATING TO 
 
 SLAVES, FREE NEGROES, AND MULATTOES, 
 
 BY A VIRGINIAN. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 / 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 Jo &, G. 3. GIDEON, PRINTERS, 
 
 1845. 
 
SLAVES, FREE NEGROES &> MULATTOES, 
 
 Among the various subjects that present themselves to the consideration of 
 man, there is none perhaps more important in its various bearings, and which 
 is attended with graver and deeper reflection, than the subject of .sfoy^ry. 
 The mind natmally dwells upon it with profound interest. How could it 
 be otherwise, when all the civilized countries on the globe, influenced by 
 certain and various causes, have, in their deli])erate assemblies and legisla- 
 tive halls, weighed and discussed it with that attention and seriousness to 
 which its vast moment has ever entitled it. 
 
 There are certain natural and inalienable rights that belong to man which 
 it is utterly impossible to divest him of. They are his, and the world ac- 
 knowledges them to be so. The Maker of all things, guided by a wisdom 
 which belongs not to the creatures of this earth, made, constituted, and or- 
 dained them the rulers and protectors of all things, and assimilated them in 
 person and in attributes with the angels of his own kingdom. But in their 
 creation he seemed to have been guided by certain wise , humane , and fixed 
 laws, which are exhibited every day by mankind in the various walks of 
 life . To them he has given the exercise of prerogatives noble in their char- 
 acter, and harmonizing with the grand system of nature. But these conna- 
 tural principles, though innate and voluntary in their action, are liable to 
 perversion, and may, by a gratification of vicious desires and passions, be- 
 come much impaired, and at last totally extinct. But it appears that those 
 wise men, whose duty it was to frame laws for the well-being and govern- 
 ment of society, were controled and influenced by certain fixed principles of 
 action, formed and introduced after a thorough and mature reflection and 
 debate. But what has been the result ? The legacy has been left behind 
 them for the benefit of posterity, and it was intended and expected, when 
 these laws by common consent were declared valid, that they would be be- 
 yond the interference and abrogation of any whimsical party who might un- 
 dertake a voluntary dictation ; it was moreover expected that they would 
 go into immediate and successful operation, under the control of individu- 
 als whose duty it was to see that they were enforced, thereby promoting the 
 happiness and interest of those for whom they were intended, and answer- 
 ing all the great ends for which they were instituted. But how great the 
 change that has been wrought within the last half century! Have the kind- 
 
lier feelings of man's nature expanded and grown better with the progress? 
 of events? Has his heart been amehorated and softened by the indulgence 
 of humane charities, and yielded to the influence of generous desires ? Has 
 he heeded the promptings, and listened to the solemn warnings, of that in- 
 ward monitor— the conscience ? We say with sorrow that the precedents 
 and precepts of by-gone days have been well nigh forgotten , or if not for- 
 gotten, shamefully and wilfully abused. Customs, venerated and admired 
 for their age and effect, and whose good influences all admitted, are only 
 thought of when spoken of, because of the loss of that moral force which at 
 one time they so powerfully exerted. The common principles of humanity 
 have been violated, cruelties the most painful and barbarous are tolerated, 
 and those whose fortune it is to occupy conspicuous and independent sta- 
 tions in society, mock at the calamities of those humbled in life by unavoid- 
 able circumstances, and disdainfully treat any proposition that may be made 
 to alleviate their conditions. The struggle between virtue and vice which 
 Was waged by our first parents has been canied on with unmitigated vio- 
 lence to the present time, and now preponderates on the side of the latter; 
 hence a system of tyi-anny and legislative abuse, a recklessness of admirable 
 customs, whose existence was cherished and admired > that has rendered the 
 world a theatre of misrule and oppression, a scene of continued strife and 
 distress. How much, indeed, is a downfall, or even a decline, of virtvie to 
 be deplored in this era of refinement and intelligence. Humanity, charity, 
 and love, in fine, all the benevolent desires of our hearts, should gi"ow bet- 
 ter as the world grows older. Shall it be said, in this nineteenth century, 
 that there is a relapse in the moral world? that om" natures, and characters, 
 and habits, are degenerating? that we aie infringing upon the sacred man- 
 dates and customs of our fathers? The course of man should be "upward 
 and onward;" never to look behind him, but to press "on to the mark of 
 the high prize," and to a realization of that long expected era of human 
 felicity, which has been foreshewn by prophetic inspiration, and described 
 in the most enraptured language by the muses. Whence arises this exceed- 
 ■ ing sensitiveness on the subject of human rights? Does not a man's own 
 sense of propriety , his own conceptions, that conception that is classed among 
 the refined senses of our nature, speak a language plain and emphatic on 
 this subject? Does not it define the proper course to be pursued in relation 
 to those who are constituted like ourselves in all particulars ? This may be 
 so, but the admonition is unheeded, and we know it; a base spirit, despite 
 touching remonstrances and humane appeals, and in violation of all scriptu- 
 ral advice, rules with a sway that has no bounds, embracing in its compass 
 
men of all classes and conditions, and leaving in its train the most incurable 
 
 evils. 
 
 We have made this digression merely to prove the natural tendency of 
 man to lean upon the side of vice and inhumanity; they are handmaids to- 
 gether, and have been the means of spreading desolation and distress through- 
 out the civilized world. The question may now be very properly asked, 
 can any remedy be applied to arrest a course of action which has been sanc- 
 tioned and countenanced for the last eighteen centuries ? Can a radical or 
 even partial change be effected, calculated to better the condition of the 
 needy and unfortunate, and to soften the asperities of untempered passions 
 and feelings? The heart and mind naturally respond to the suggestions of 
 humanity, and will at any time readily cooperate in arresting the tide which 
 sweeps over the world, leaving in its train poverty, disgi-ace, and ruin, and 
 in blending in hannony the discordant elements of our nature . But how 
 apt are long established customs to be considered right and politic j bearing 
 on their face the most satisfactory evidences of propriety, and equity, and 
 justice, thereby causing man to respect them, and to insist on their obser- 
 vance. From this cause the most cruel and tyrannical laws have been per- 
 mitted to remain unrepealed, to the detriment and injury of those for whose 
 benefit they were instituted. As time advances, changes in the conditions 
 of men must necessarily occur, and old statutes which, when passed, may 
 have been approved by all, suiting the age, and producing a desirable effect 
 on society, and answering all the ends for which they were intended^ may 
 at this time, after the lapse of half a century, tend in an eminent degree to 
 augment the troubles and increase the difficulties of the poor and needy, and 
 to harden the situation of those over whom the broad mantle of national pro- 
 tection should be thrown . 
 
 We do not intend on this occasion entering into a lengthy discussion of 
 the rights and privileges which are granted and refused to the colored popu- 
 lation, nor to comment at large on the relations that we sustain to them, va- 
 rious and diversified as they are. The theme is exceedingly prolific, and 
 we therefore beg leave to discuss it as briefly as possible, advocating, as we 
 mean to do, the cause of the injured and oppressed. 
 
 The laws of our country, generally, relating to slaves, free negroes and 
 mulattoes, are of such a character as to excite the attention of all men whose 
 generous sympathies are not destroyed by the baser passions. When we 
 seriously and impartially reflect upon the character of these laws, for whom 
 they were intended, their hardness, severity, and we might properly say 
 cmelty, the cause of injured humanity iiTesistibly forces itself upon the 
 
iDJml and demands instant consideration. When we reflect upon the situa- 
 tjou of the slave; his bondage and subserviency to the freak and whim of his 
 master, his dependant and deplorable condition, his comparatively few en- 
 joyments and limited privileges, his unflattering prospects of emancipation-— 
 when we remember that tliey have lived and died among us, after a long, 
 laborious and faidiful stewardship, and then look to the laws which they 
 are made under the highest penalties to observe, how ungiateful, cruel and 
 oppressive does it appear, that we should forget that they are human beings, 
 possessing naturally the same faculties and feelings as ourselves, breathing 
 the same air, and destined to the same eternity. Surely they are sensitive 
 and intelligent beings, and though the light of science may have never 
 dawned upon their benighted minds, and theii- aflections never received that 
 cultivation and attention which the white man in his affluence may have 
 enjoyed, yet they have hearts to feel and understand, and their wounded 
 spirits are ever brooding over the malignant treatment of their superiors, 
 Gifted with faculties similar to our own, with knowledge intuitively bestow- 
 ed to comprehend, Avith red blood like our own coursing through their veins, 
 though chained down to hard and harsh laws, powerless in their might, and 
 held captive by every consideration that can be conceived, they giope their 
 way in darkness to an untried world, unpitied and often unprotected. Let 
 us examine spi^ie few clauses of the law of our land relating to slaves, free 
 negroes and mulattoes, and leave to our readers to say whether that kind- 
 ness is extended tq them which as rational beings they deserve. Though 
 the legislatures of the diflrerent slave States are ejnpowered with the privilege 
 cf making and abrogating laws, tending either tp the happiness or distress of 
 their subjects, yet they never appear to be stimulated by those kind and 
 generous emotions, the oflTspring of philanthropy and common humanity^ 
 Year after year these bodies meet together with no other object than to 
 supervise the laws of their States, and to make those enactments which 
 will benefit society. In Henning's Justice, p. 325, the following lan- 
 guage is found: "A slave found on the plantation of another, withqut law- 
 ful business, may receive ten lashes from the owner or overseer of such 
 plantation.'''' It is not our purpose to comment at large on this section of 
 our laws, but it must strike the mind of every considerate man as being cruel 
 and tyrannical in the extreme. It must be remembered that it relates not 
 to the higher intelligefices of nature, to men enlightened in mind and 
 morals, but to poor, ignorant, untutored, unlettered slaves. What opportu- 
 nity have tjiey to examine the principles of law that are laid down for their 
 observance? Have they the mind to comprehend and the knowledge to 
 
wnderstantl? Do they know the forfeiture that they make, wlien innocent- 
 ly they visit their friends, probably their kindred, on an adjoining planta- 
 tion? Is the social principle to be entirely destroyed, because forsooth they 
 are in bondage, deprived of nearly all the enjoyments which suiTound the 
 white man? Is all commmiication to be stopped, and ihey remain in the 
 world like brutes, deprived in part of the power of speech? " Unless lav^ful 
 business carries Mm mi the plantation of another , he may receive ten lashes 
 JYom, the owner ot over^er of such plantation . ' ' What humiliation must this 
 be to individuals who possess the power of thought ! subject to the pain and 
 mortification of severe corporeal punishment. And for what? Why, because 
 in his ignorance of the consequences, and influenced by correct motives, he 
 seeks the company of his friends to gi"atify the implanted principles of his 
 nature. Were the slave population of our country disposed to be rebellious; 
 were insurrectionary attempts made by them, and a desire manifested to 
 acquire their independence vi et armis, then with some degree of plausibi- 
 lity might those laws be passed and executed, which would be calculated to 
 render impregnable the strongholds of our freedoms and rights. But when 
 was there such an attempt made, we mean a united attempt, concocted and 
 planned long before the proposed period of its execution? Has it been 
 within the last half centuiy? Though there may have been occasional out- 
 breaks of rebellion and resentment plainly exhibited, and plots devised 
 which were intended to be carried out, which might have revolutionized the 
 whole South, and rendered it a scene of bloodshed and confusion, yet the 
 slave population have quietly and tamely borne the yoke of their burden, 
 and submissively passed through the painful and protracted ordeal which 
 it seems they were destined to experience. 
 
 We now come to Henning's Justice, 13 set., p. 240: ^^ Persons permit- 
 'ting slaves to remain on their plantations four hmirs at a time ^ without 
 have from, their masters or overseers, forfeit three dollars; for permitting 
 more than four negroes to remain, forfeit one dollar for each negro ^ 
 With regard to this passage of law, we have only to express our decided and 
 entire disapprobation of it, not because of any severity that it attaches to the 
 slave, but because of its being beneath the dignity and tone of our statutes 
 generally, and at variance with their true spirit ! Though the slave, through 
 his master, might be aware of the existence of this laW) which he would be 
 compelled sometimes necessarily to disregard and violate, his master would 
 be the loser. Here there is no actual punishment attached to the slave, but 
 his owner exclusively the sufferer, and he is exempt from all blame. How 
 can it happen that the master can be always on the alert, watching the 
 
movements of his negroes to prevent their leaving the premises? This 
 would require a degree of super- vigilance which would be wholly incompa- 
 tible with his business, and a direct interference with his ordinary occupa- 
 tions. We therefore object to the existence of this law, because it is impos- 
 sible to observe it strictly; but could there be a faithful observance of it, we 
 cannot see the benefit accruing from its existence. 
 
 The next portion of law to which we shall mvite the attention of our 
 readers, is Henning's Justice, 25 sec, p. 130: ''If any slave, free negro or 
 mulatto, shall prepare, exhibit or administer any 7Jiedicine , the offender 
 shall siffer death without the benefit of clergy . ' ' The cruelty , injustice and 
 absurdity of this law is plainly manifest, and bears cruelty and mipropriety 
 on its face. For the mere preparation of medicine, in times perhaps of 
 emergency J when there was no one near whose skill and experience could 
 be confided in, the ignorant and innocent slave, actuated by none other than 
 the best and purest motives, takes that step which he thinks will benefit the 
 diseased and sick, and restore him to bodily health and strength. He pre- 
 pares the dose under the excitement of great alarm, and administers it, 
 hoping at the same time that a desirable effect will be produced. What is 
 the consequence? The law, which he never heard of, deprives him of life — 
 that boon which few, very few, have been ever willing to part with; at a 
 time, too, when his suspicions and fears are quiet and unexcited, he is rob- 
 bed of that which God gave, and which He says '^'no one shall take away." 
 Suspended between heaven and earth, with the eyes of thousands of curious 
 spectators resting upon him, for this act of kindness, humanity and benevo- 
 lence, he dies a death of pain and ignominy, and is heard of no more. 
 Wliere is the humanity in this law, like the one posted by Dionysius at such 
 a height that none could read it, an ignorance of which was death, we find 
 on our continent where religion has planted her altars and philosophy built 
 her laboratories, is this unrepealed statute^ with all its severity and disgi-ace. 
 Is this humanity, is it justice? Does it accord with the sentiments and 
 opinions of rational and intelligent beings? Does it appear as though it 
 was made for any thing human, possessing high and noble faculties ? What 
 a power and sway dc'cs independence and freedom exert ! Wliat a marked 
 and radical difference between the oppressor and the oppressed! The one 
 forever basking in the pure sun-light of prosperity, and lighted through the 
 worid by fortune's brightest beacons ; the other not even cheered by fitful 
 gleams, which it is supposed would sometimes break upon his pathway, ex- 
 pelling some of the dim memorials of grief, and kindling new rays of hope 
 and joy! 
 
There is anothet of our laws which for cruehy stands unparalleled, we 
 refer to ^^ burning in the liand,^^ which we are pleased to say has been re- 
 pealed ; but it did exist, however, and we take occasion to say that we have 
 read in history of deeds in barbarous countries which blackened their calen- 
 dars, and were revolting to hmnanity, but never in a civilized land, distin- 
 guished at home and abroad for its virtue and Christianity , have we heard of 
 such a law. What pain known to human suiTering can be more intense 
 tJian the one referred to; yet there was frequent resort made to it. This 
 subject has been veiy frequently alluded to in the journals of foreign coun- 
 tries. They make capital of it, and speak of it as it really is, ^^an abomi- 
 nation and a disgraced How is it possible, when the colored population 
 of our country are denied by law the privilege of reading and writing, that 
 they can be expected to miderstand and learn the laws which are intended 
 for them. In proportion as the mind is improved, so are the feelings and 
 sensibilities softened. Should gross and dark ignorance pervade our whole 
 country, a scene of demoralization would be witnessed by no means conso- 
 nant with the views of intelligent men. Vice and ignorance are handmaids 
 together, and when the mind is enlightened, the heart undergoes a radical 
 change for the better. Look to the pagan and uncivilized countries of the 
 world, where heathenism and idolatry held their sway ? Do we find virtue, 
 refinement, and intelligence ihere ? By no means. Barbarities the most 
 cruel and deplorable exist, and man, the creatme of inordinate appetites, 
 lives and dies like the beast of the forest. There no moniunent to his fame 
 and gi-eatness is raised; no vocal praises ring from mountain to mountain, in 
 honor of his virtues and sei-vices; scenes of bloodshed and rapacity blacken 
 their legends, and the demon of destruction stalks through the country, dis- 
 seminating the direst of evils. See the fierce and exterminating conflicts 
 that have marked that sanguinary arena of ignorance and ambition which 
 has laid waste so many fair and beautiful countries. The greater part of 
 mankind must, in the nature of things be poor and ignorant, toiling anxi- 
 ously for their daily breads and in the language of the all accomplished and 
 talented John Thompson Brown, ''^All cannot be raised to the top of the 
 scale; and the negro, of all others, is the least susceptible of elevation. You 
 may declare him free, but unless you can reverse his doom of inferiority, 
 unless you can exempt him from poverty and toil, your utmost eftbrts will 
 only change him from a slave to a serf." But let hun be educated, at all 
 events so as to be enabled to read the laws which he is forced to observe. 
 Should he see that an attempt was being made by his superiors to better his 
 condition, and to render him more happy; that they were turning their fa- 
 
10 
 
 vorable attention to him in his dependance and distress, how much would 
 his burden be lightened. Satisfaction and contentment, which before knew 
 him not, would add their comfortings,and emotions would be excited in his 
 bosom which he never before experienced . In England all stand on an 
 equal footing; there liberty is extended to all the human family, and the 
 banner of independence waves over her millions of independent subjects. 
 There, there is nothing like tyranny over man, and the immortal Curran 
 tells us: ^' The moment a slave treads on British soil his shackles fall qff^ 
 and he stands regenerated and disenthralled by the redeeming spirit of uni- 
 versal emancipation.'''' How much better for mankind in general would it 
 be if every country on the globe could make the same boast! Then the 
 paupers of our land, unpitied in their poverty and distress, who have been 
 for years out of employment, not because they have not sought it, would 
 rejoice that a time had come when their own resources would enable them 
 to surround their suffering household with the necessaries of life, and stand 
 before the world the acknowledged laborers,*^ '^worthy of their hire." Those 
 who have neither ^'food nor raiment" would greet wnth joy the day-spring 
 from on high, the harbinger of their emancipation, to unloose the fetters 
 that had bound them down in the very dust of distress and humiliation. 
 How much is slavery to be deplored. Yet it has its friends, who are not 
 confined to the humbler classes of life. There is a distinguished statesman, 
 who lives in its midst, wdiose fame is Icnown in distant lands, and the power 
 of whose brilliant genius has solved the most abstruse political problems, and 
 thro^vn new light upon deeply important constitutional questions. He is a 
 skilful and able political economist, is no stranger in the legislative halls of 
 our countiy, and is now regarded as one of the most gifted men who have 
 lived in any age or clime . We allude to John C . Calhoun ; and it is in- 
 deed remarkable that a gentleman of his transcendant abilities and long ex- 
 perience, who has studied the human character with so critical an eye, and 
 knows so well what should be the rule of action for the human family in 
 our intercourse with subordinates, should, in the retirement of his closet, 
 publish to the world a letter, in which he states that slavery is an histitution 
 right in the abstract, and that the prosperity of the South depends upon its 
 existence. How, we should lilce to know, does the prosperity of the South 
 depend upon slavery, when there are now thousands of suffering, depend- 
 ant paupers, honest and industrious men, who are shut out from employ- 
 ment because of the slave labor. They can scarcely get any compensation 
 for their services, certamly not what they deserve, because of the competi- 
 tion. Were the whole slave population emancipated, or the number by a 
 
11 
 
 certain process greatly diminished, an opportunity would thus be afforded 
 them of making at all events an humble competency. But now their ser- 
 vices are not needed, there is no demand; the hardy negro is subservient, 
 and can answer the most menial ends. It appears to us, therefore, that 
 slavery, instead of benefitting the South, and rendering it more prosperous, 
 has clearly a contrary effect. It certainly denies to the white man opportu- 
 nities of employment, and thereby deprives him of those resources which he 
 would othenvise obtain. Its evils are apparent to all, but it is in vain to 
 remonstrate at this eleventh hour. Would to God that the seed had never 
 been planted; but it has been; its roots struck deep, and its fruit has scat- 
 tered troubles and misery throughout every portion of the ci^^lized world in 
 which it exists. Slavery has ever been regarded as an evil, as a growing 
 evil, and unless some plan is recommended and agreed to that will arrest its 
 progress, a plan universally consented to and approved, the abolition peti- 
 tions which have been flooding our Congress, will not only greatly increase, 
 but the people of the South, living in the midst of slavery, and enjoying ili 
 immediate profits and benefits, will, from the multiplied number of slaves, 
 cry out at last en masse for a removal of them, but it will then be too late; 
 the die will have then been cast, and it will be utterly impossible to make 
 that disposition of them which could have been made at an earlier period , 
 In referring to the proceedings of the Virginia Convention which formed 
 our constitution, we find that, when the constitution was presented for adop- 
 tion, it was violently objected to and opposed, on the ground that it did not 
 prohibit the States from allowing a further importation of slaves. This sub- 
 ject was discussed by many of the ablest and most influential members of 
 the convention. Wliat does this prove, but that it was a gi-eat and impor- 
 tant subject, touching the safety and happiness of generations to come. But 
 what has been the result? The slave population, as can be seen from the 
 last census, has augmented to an alarming degree, and has spread itself from 
 the Ganges to the Nile, from the Indus to the Poles. Far and wide we 
 find this unhappy race are subject to the most cruel and oppressive laws. 
 Various schemes of emancipation have been suggested by distinguished in- 
 dividuals, and they have presented their views and arguments on strong and 
 plausible pretexts. Some have been partially sanctioned, others have been 
 discountenanced; but no decided and decisive step has yet been taken to 
 remove from the country this blot upon her character. Many years ago it 
 was proposed to purchase slaves by taxation, and to apply it in the most eco- 
 nomical and effectual manner, according to certain rules prescribed for the 
 removal of slaves of certain ages and sexes. This scheme was found to be 
 
12 
 
 impolitic, from the fact that by removing a certain number and class of this 
 population, would cause those to whom emancipation was denied by infir- 
 mities, old age, or some other cause, to become dissatisfied and rebellious. 
 The proposition was therefore abandoned , as none could be suggested which 
 would meet with the general consent of the people. Emancipation was 
 found to conflict with the ''right ofpropertif as is contained in the ''Bill 
 of Rights,'" and we had no right to demand that which was bona fide and 
 legally the property of another. ^^The right of property'' was at that time 
 acknowledged by Mi*. Jefferson, together with many other worthy and high- 
 ly distinguished men. He insisted that ^^ they should be purchased from 
 their owners, and without such purchase we had no right to take them." 
 (Vide Letter to Jared Sparks.) It is absurd to contend that the owners of 
 slaves are not entided to the increase thereof; and though it has been argued, 
 and strongly too, that the increase can be disposed of, as was once the case 
 in the Legislature of Virginia, the constitution, in saying that "property 
 4iallnot he taken without due process of law,'" and whatever comes under 
 that denomination is equally protected , and is at the voluntary disposal of 
 the owner. To ascertain what is property, we must refer to the laws that 
 define it. The statute declaring slaves to be property was in force at the 
 adoption of the constitution, and is to be regarded as supplementary and ex- 
 planatory of the provisions in that instrument. 
 
 It is not necessary, we presume, to show that the right of property in 
 slaves is founded in nature. No one would contend for that. It is a right 
 purely and solely conventional, and is derived from the assent and agree- 
 ment of those who are united with us by compact, and not from nature. 
 The fact is, we have no right, either by the constitution or by any implied 
 power, be what it may, to exact from any man a surrender of what law and 
 custom recognise as property. The established rule that man is free to 
 make what disposition he pleases of that which belongs to him, is conceded 
 on all hands, and an attempt at this late day to seize any thing which pre- 
 cedent has pronounced not our own, is a gi"oss innovation upon the rights 
 and interests of our fellow man. Though we may be all abolitionists in 
 the abstract, because we believe in our hearts slavery to be an evil and a 
 curse, and because it may be cruel and unrighteous to retain them, but 
 where is the man who would surrender his slaves without a full and satis- 
 factoiy compensation? We are led blindly along by our interests, despite 
 the promptings of our reason and the dictates of our own judgment and con- 
 sciences. We wish for the day when the evil will be removed, when the 
 negro will return, by proper means, to the genial clime of his native land. 
 
13 
 
 But how can it be, when apathy and indifference pervade the whole slave- 
 holding country? Are we waiting for a more favorable time when we know 
 'Hhat procrastination is dangerous," and maybe fatal to our peace and liber- 
 ties? Self-preservation is a law of nature, and is frequently called into ex- 
 ercise. We must anticipate danger in proportion as slavery increases; but 
 we are waiting for it to be urgent, imminent, inevitable. We believe that 
 it was never intended that the slave should be in his present capacity — that 
 he should subserve the degrading ends of which he is now the instrument, 
 and spend his life on earth in answering the will and wants of haughty and 
 relendess masters. There is a voice that speaks from within, which tells 
 us that they were born to enjoy the privileges of freemen, and the rational 
 enjoyments of hfe; that they were made by the same God, proceeded from 
 the same common parents, and are entided to the same public rights as our- 
 selves. Gifted with the same faculties with which we are blessed, why 
 may they not possess the same prerogatives? We believe that the day is 
 approaching, and fast too, when the cry of universal freedom will ring in 
 thunder tones from one pole to the other; when freed spirits now suffering 
 with galling trammels, will raise one unmixed and deafening chorus of praises 
 to the gTeat God that made them for their emancipation. Slavery has dis- 
 appeared from the eastern and middle States, and is to be found only where 
 planting is the characteristic occupation. Slaves in the north ceased to be 
 profitable, therefore it was abolished, not because of the moral impropriety 
 of retaining them. Such was the case from the fact that many were sent 
 from the northern to the southern market to avoid the operation of their 
 emancipation laws. On the seaboard of the Carolinas, slaves bear a much 
 gi-eater proportion to the whites than here. In the mountainous districts 
 diey are comparatively few. "The foot of the negro delights not in the 
 dew of the mountain grass. He is the child and native of the sandy desert. 
 The burning sun gives new life and vigor, and his step is most joyous on 
 the arid plain." Let him while he remains here enjoy some of the few 
 pleasures allotted to poor human nature. The Father of nations looks with 
 joy upon the humane, and though we be in the ascendant, holding in our 
 hands the reins of government, the chief ruler of the world, yet let a spirit 
 of kindness govern our conduct, and be hereafter the rule of our action. 
 
W46 
 

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