V ,&' ,40, .s^'^^. •■ >* .IV' v^*..j:^'. % ^ o > '^^ • 7 «.^'^"^*. •. r^9' O^ *o )'^ >i*^-» v^\!i5k.% o ^-4 '^^.♦^ .\ * aV -^^ • ^^^r.-^" :^m^^ '^r.& -(^mSi- ^^Mr.^ "^^. > ♦ 1 •^'' ^^ '•# V^*..iiL%, THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION AS DESCRIBED BY MEMBEES OF ITS OWN FAMILY. COMPILED BY L. MARIA CHILD. Have ye chosen, my people, on whoso party ye shall stand, Ere the doom, from its worn sandals, shakes the dust against our land?' J. R. Lowell. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAYERY SOCIETY. 1860. THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION SOUTHERN PROPHECIES. " Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God ? " — Thomas Jefferson. " I have no hope that the stream of general liberty will for ever flow unpolluted through the mire of partial bond- age:' " That the dangerous consequences of this system of bond age have not as yet been felt, does not prove that they never icill be. To me, nothing, for which I have not the evidence of my senses, is more clear than that it will one day destroy that reverence for liberty, which is the vital principle of a Republic:' — William Pinkney, of Maryland, in 1789. " Is it not amazing, that at a time when the rights of hu- manity are defined with precision, in a country above all others fond of liberty, that in such an age, and in such a country, we find men, professing a religion the most humane and gentle, adopting a principle as repugnant to humanity, as it is inconsistent with the Bible, and destrztctive to liberty ? I could say many things on this subject, a serious view of which gives a gloomy prospect for future times:'' — Letter of Patrick Henry, of Virginia. " Slavery is inconsistent with the genius of republicanism, and has a tendency to destroy those principles on which it is supported ; as it lessens the sense of the equal rights of man- kind, and habituates us to tyranny and oppression:' — Lu- TUEK Martin, of Maryland, in 1787. 4 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. " It is a fact too well known, at least by the poor, to admit of successful controversy, that the man who will oppress and abuse his own slaves, will also, when an opportunity is afforded, oppress his indigent neighbor, or any one else, over whom he may have gained an advantage. This principle strikes at the root of our Republican institutions, and if siiffered to become sufficiently stroiig, it will overturn even our liberty itself^ — iVddress of William Swaim, Guildford Co., N. C, 1830. SOUTHERN FULFILMENT OF THE PRECEDING PROPHECIES. " I do not believe in the fanfaronade that all men are by nature equal." — Mr. Roane, of Virginia — Debate in Le- gislature, 1832. " Many in the South once believed that slavery was a moral and political evil ; but that folly and delusion are gone. We now see it in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free histitutions.''^ — Hon. John C. Calhoun, of S. C, U. S. Senate, 1838. " The substance of the wild and extravagant notions which many seem to entertain respecting liberty is contained in that rhetorical flourish of Mr. Jefferson, in which he says: '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.' Upon this proposition, false as it is, rests the wild theories of liberty held by so many. We are told that men are not only born equal, but free. The very reverse of this is true." — The Southern Christian Herald, Columbia, S. C. " The eminent advantage of slavery over free institutions is that the continuance of the association is systematic. The hireling's association is a variable one, whose functions are climates, soils, idiosyncracies, race, education, morality, and religion. The free laborer thus works when he pleases, for whom he pleases, and for what he pleases. But the slave works not as he pleases, but as his master pleases. Indeed, slavery is nothing more than labor obeying unchecked, unreg- SOUTHERN FULFILMENT OF PROPHECIES. O ulated mid irresponsible capital.''^ — Report of the Southern Commercial Convention, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, May, 1859. " In all social systems, there must be a class to do the me- nial duties, to perform the drudgery of life ; a class requir- ing but a low order of intellect, and little skill. It consti- tutes the mud-sill of society and of political government. * * * Yoicr lohole class of manual hireling laborers at the North, and your ^ operatives,^ as you call them, are essen- tially slaves. ^^ — Mr. Hammond, of South Carolina — Speech in Congress. "Domestic slavery is the only institution I know of which can secure the spirit of equality among freemen, so necessary to the true and genuine feeling of republicanism, without pro- pelling the body politic into the dangerous vices of agrarian- ism, and legislative intermeddling betiveen the laborer and the capitalist.^'' — Gteorge McDuffie, Governor of South Caro- lina, 1835. " Slavery is the corner-stone of our Republican edifice. * * * It supersedes the necessity of an order of nobility." — Gov. McDuffie. " I endorse, without reserve, that much-abused sentiment of Gov. McDuffie, that 'Slavery is the corner-stone of our Republican edifice ' ; while I repudiate, as ridiculously ab- surd, that much-lauded, but nowhere accredited, dogma of Mr. Jefiierson, that 'all men are born equal.'" — Gov. Ham- mond, of South Carolina. " I had as lief be bitten by a black mule as a white one. When petitions come from the white slaves of the North, then it is that I feel excited and alarmed." — Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, in Congress. "The Declaration of Independence is exuberantly false and arborescently fallacious. Life and liberty are not un- alienable. Men are 7wt born entitled to equal rights. It would be far nearer the truth to say, that some are born with saddles on their backs, and others booted and spurred to ride them ; and the riding does them good ; they need the reins, the bit, and the spur." — ; George Fitzhugh, of Virginia. 6 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. " He that holdeth the plough cannot get wisdom." — Prof. Dew, of Virginia. " Two hundred years of liberty have made white laborers a pauper banditti. Free society is a failure. We slavehold- ers say you must recur to domestic slavery, the oldest, the best, and the most common form of socialism." " Free society is a monstrous abortion, and slavery is the healthy, beautiful, and natural state of being," — "Sociology for the South ; or the Failure of Free Society " ; published at Richmond, Virginia, 1854, by George Fitzhugh. "Human experience shows the universal success of slave society, and the universal failure of free society. * * * The little experiment of free society in Western Europe has been, from the beginning, a cruel failure, and symptoms of failure are abundant in our North. * * * Free society, in the long run, is an impracticable form of society; it is every where starving, demoralized, and insurrectionar3^" — Richmond Enquirer^ Virginia. " The principle of slavery is in itself right, and does not depend on differ e7ice of cmnplexion." — Richmond Enquirer. " Make the laboring man the slave of one man, instead of the slave of society, and he would be far better off." " Sla- very, black or white, is right and necessary." " Nature has made the weak in mind or bod.y for slaves.'''' — " Sociology for the South," by George Fitzhugh, of Virginia. " The great evil of Northern Society is, that it is burdened with a servile class of mechanics and laborers, unfit for sclf- (jovermnent, and yet clothed with the attributes and powers of citizens. Master and slave is a relation in society as ne- cessary as that of parent and child, and the Northern States will yet /lavc to introduce it. The theory of free government is a delusion. Slavery is the natural and normal condition of the laboring man, ivhite or black.'''' — A Democratic paper in South Carolina, 1856. " Free society ! We sicken of the name. What is it but a conglomoration of greasy mechanics, filthy operatives, small- fisted farmers, and moon-struck theorists ? AH the Northern States, and especially the New England States, arc devoid of SOUTHERN FULFILMENT OF PROPHECIES, 7 society fitted for well-bred gentlemen. The prevailing class one meets with is that of mechanics struggling to be genteel, and small farmers, who do their own drudgery ; and yet who are hardly fit for association with a gentleman's body servant. That is your free society ! " — The Micscogee Herald, a Dem- ocratic paper in Alabama. " Free society has failed ; and that which is not free must be substituted." — Senator Mason, of Virginia. " We have got to hating every thing with the prefix free ; from free negroes, down and up, through the whole catalogue. Free farms, free labor, free society, free will, free thinking, free children, and free schools, all belong to the same brood of damnable isms. But the worst of all these abominations is the modern system q^ free schools. The New England system of free schools has been the cause and prolific source of the infidelities and treasons that have turned her cities into Sodoms and Gomorrahs, and her land into the common nestling-places of howling bedlamites. We abominate the system, because the schools are free y — RichTnond Examiiwr^ Virginia, 1856. " The Northern States, in dispensing with slavery, have destroyed order, and removed the strongest argument to prove the existence of Deity, the author of that order." — Richmond Enquirer, 1855. In 1818, the Rev. Mr. Gruber, a Methodist minister in Maryland, was tried for an attempt to incite insurrection, be- cause he preached a sermon against slavery, in which he quoted from the Declaration of Independence. Boger A. Taney, Esq., of Maryland, contemporary with William Fink- ney, was employed as his attorney. In his defence, he said : "Mr. Grubner did quote the language of our great act of national independence; he did insist on the principles con- tained in that venerated instrument ; and we are prepared to maintain the same principles, and if necessary to use the same language, here in the temple of justice. * * Slavery is a blot upon our national character, and every real lover of freedom confidently hopes that it will be effectually wiped away. And until it shall be accomplished, until the time shall come when we can point without a blush to the Ian- 8 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. guage held in the Declaration of Independence, every friend of humanity will seek to lighten the galling chain of slavery, and better, to the utmost of his power, the wretched condition of the slave.'" In 1856, when the same Roger A. Taney was Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the United States, he made the famous Dred Scott decision, in which he said : " The enslaved African race were not intended to be included in the Declar- ation of Independence." * * "They have never been supposed to possess any political rights which the dominant race might not withhold or grant at their pleasure." SOUTHERN STATEMENTS OF THE HAPPINESS OF SLAVES. " Our slaves are well compensated. There is no starva- tion, no begging, no want of employment, and not too much employment either." " The status in which we have placed them is an elevation. They are happy, contented, and unas- piring." — Mr. Hammond, of South Carolina, in Congress. " It is now almost universally believed, in the South, that slavery is ennobling to both races, white and black." — Mr. Mason, of Virginia, in U. S. Senate. [He subsequently stated that elevating would have been a more appropriate word than ennobling.^ " Civilization and Christianity have spread over slavery their humanizing influence." — Charleston Coiiric?-, South Carolina. " The slave population of the South are peculiarly suscepti- ble to religious influences. Their mere residence among Christian people has wrought a great and happy change in their condition. They have been raised from the night of heathenism to the light of Christianity." — Judge Baker, of Virginia. " Under this relation of master and slave, the two races have long lived in peace and prosperity." — Hon. J. C. Cal- houn, of South Carolina, U. S. Senate, 1836. SOUTHERN PROOFS THAT SLATES ARE HAPPY. \f " Among no people in the world are the affections of the heart more cherished and more gratified, than among the slaves at the South." — Mr. Prj:ston, of South Carolina. " Domestic slavery contributes to form and preserve the chivalrous and high-minded character of our people, and gives to the African race, domesticated among us, Christian- ity, civilization, and peace." — Charleston Courier^ South Carolina. "Slavery is with us a parental relation." — Ditto. " The tender care and protection of the master elicit an affectionate attachment from the slave, which will be looked for in vain from the hired servant of a more Northern clime." — Ditto. " The slaves are governed far better than the free laborers of the North. Our slaves are not only better off as to phys- ical comfort than free laborers, but their moral condition is better." — Jiichinond Enquirer, Virginia. " Contrasting the condition of white slaves in New England with our slaves in the South, is like comparing Egyptian bondage with millennial glory. Mild slavery at the South is heaven on earth, compared to the tyranny of the spindle at the North." — Rev. J. C. Postell, of South Carolina. SOUTHERN PROOFS THAT SLAVES ARE "HAPPY AND CON- TENTED." " In case any person shall wilfully cut out the tongue, put out the eye, cruelly scald, burn, or deprive any slave of any limb, or member, or shall inflict any other cruel punishment, otherwise than by lohipping, or beating, with a horsewhip, cowskin, switch, or small stick, or by putting on iro7is, or confining, or imprisoning such slave, every such person, for every such offence shall forfeit one hundred pounds, current money." — Law of South Carolina. In the laws of North Carolina, the murder of a slave is pronounced punishable the same as the murder of a free man, except when the slave offers any resistance to his owner ; or 10 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. whe7i his owner publicly jn'oclaims him mitlawed as a runa- way ; or when he ^'dies under moderate correction.'''' The laws of Tennessee and Georgia make the same proviso con- cerning " dyinrj of moderate correction." Throughout the Slave States, slaves are forbidden, by law^ to testify against any white man, under any circumstances. " Vicinity to non-slaveholding States must for ever render this sort of property 'precarious and insecure.^'' — Judge Upshur, of Virginia, in Convention, 1829. Hon. Bushrod Washington, nephew of Gen. Washington, and Supreme Judge of the United States, sold fifty-four slaves, to be carried to Louisiana, in 1831. In a letter pub- lished in the Baltimore Telegraph, Sept. 18, 1831, he says: " I had good reason to anticipate the escape to the Northern States of all the laboring men of any value, as soon as I should leave home." In the Convention that framed the Constitution of Vir- ginia, Mr. Campbell said : " In 1814, all the militia east of the Blue Ridge were chiefly employed in patrolling the counties on the sea-board, and generally east of the Ridge, to prevent insurrection among your mon discontented popular tio7i,^^ " For the past month, the journals from different Southern States have been filled with numberless alarms respecting contemplated risings of the negro population. In Tennes- see, Missouri, Virginia, and Alabama, the danger has been deemed so imminent, that the most severe measures have been adopted to prevent their congregating, or visiting, after night ; to suppress their customary attendance at neighbor- hood preachings; and to keep a vigilant watch upon all their movements, by an efficient patrolling system. This is, as- suredly, a most lamentable condition for the slave States; for nothing causes such terror upon the plantations as the bare suspicio?i of these insurrections.^^ — Missouri Democrat, Dec. 4, 1856. " $100 Reward. Ranaway from my plantation, a negro man, copper colored, very straight ; has some scars on his back that show above the skin plain, caused by the 2ohip.^^ James H. Cousar, Victoria, Mississippi. From the Jeffer- son Enquirer, Nov. 27, 1852. SOUTHERN PROOFS THAT SLAVES ARE HAPPY, 11 " $25, with the payment of all necessary expenses, for the apprehension of my man Charles ; about twenty-seven years old, a well-proportioned mulatto, very active and sensible. He has « mild, submissive look, and if taken, will no doubt show the marks of a recent lohipping ,'''' R. H. DeJarrett. From the South-Side Democrat, Virginia, Oct. 25, 1852. $100 Reward for my negro Glasgow, and Kate, his wife. Glasgow is twenty-four years old ; has marks of the whip on his back. Kate is twenty-six years old ; has a scar on her cheek, and several marks of the whip.''"' L. E. Cooner. From the Macon Messe?iger, South Carolina, May 25, 1837. " Committed to jail, a negro boy named John, about sev- enteen years old ; his back badly marked witli the whip ; under lip and chin severely bruised.'^ John H. Hand, Jailer. From the Francisville Journal, July 6, 1837. " Committed, a mulatto fellow. His back shows lasting impressions of the whip, and leaves no doubt of his being a slave.''' John A. Rowland, Jailer. From the Fayetteville {N. C.) Observer, June 20, 1838. " Ranaway from the plantation of James Surgette, the following negroes: Randal — has o?ie ear cropped; Bob — has lost one eye; Kentucky Tom — has 07ie jaw broken.^' F. L. C. Edwards. From the Southern Telegraph, Sept. 25, 1837. "Ranaway, a negro man, named Henry; his left eye out ; scars from a dirk on and under his left arm ; much scarred with the whip.'' William Overstreet, Benton, Mississippi. From the Lexington Observer, Ky., July 22, 1838. " Ranaway, Ben. He ran off without any knoivn cause. I suppose he is aiming to go to his wife, who was carried from the neighborhood last winter."" John Hunt. From the Richmond Compiler, Va., Sept. 8, 1837. " Ranaway, my negro man Frederic, about twenty years of age. He is no doubt near the plantation of G. W. Corprew, Esq., of Noxubee Co., Mississippi, as his wife belongs to that gentleman, and he followed her from my residence.'''' — Kerk- man Lewis. From the Southern Argus, Ala., Oct. 31, 1837. 12 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION, " $25 Reward. Ranaway from the Eagle Tavern, a negro fellow, named Nat; a carpenter by trade, and has an intelligent countenance. He is a sltreicd, sensible negro, and is no doubt attempting to follow his wife, 20)10 was sold to a speculator named Redmond." Mrs. Lucy M. Downman, Sussex Co., Va. " $50 Reward. Ranaway from the subscriber, his negro man Paul. Gen. R. Y. Hayne has purchased his wife and children, and has them now on his plantation at Goose Creek, where no doubt the fellow is frequently lurking y T. Davis, Charleston, S. C. " Ranaway, a negro fellow named Ben, eighteen years of age, rather thin in flesh. As I have traced him out in seve- ral places in town, I am certain he is harbored. This notice is given that I am determined, whenever he is taken, to p2in- ish him till he informs me who has given him food and pro- tection ; and I shall apply the law of Judge Lynch, to my own satisfaction, on those concerned in his concealment." A. Watson. From the Florida Herald, June 28, 1838. " If any person, or persons, shall cut or break any iron collar, which any master of slaves shall have used, in order to prevent the running away, or escape, of any such slave or slaves, such person or persons, so oftending, shall, on convic- tion, be fined not less than $200, nor more than $1000, and suffer imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, nor less than six months." — Louisiana Act of Assembly, 1819. " Was committed to jail, a negro boy ; had on a large neck iron with a huge pair of horns, and a large bar or band of iron on his left leg'"' — H. Gridley, Sheriff, Adams Co., Mississippi. From the Memphis Times, Tenn., Sept., 1834. "Ranaway, the negro George. He had on his neck an iron collar, the branches of which had been taken off. ''^ Fer- dinand Lemos. From the New Orleans Bee, Jan. 29, 1838. " Committed to jail, a man who calls himself John ; has a clog of iron on his right foot, which will weigh four or five pou7ids.'^ — B. W. Hodges, Jailer. From the Montgomery Advertiser, Sept. 29, 1837. SOUTHEKN PROOFS THAT SLAVES ARE HAPPY. 13 " $25 Reward. Absconded from the subscriber, a negro man named Ned. He is hranded on the forehead with the letters A. M., and on each cheek with the letters J. Gr." Anthony M. Minter. From the Free Press, Ala., Sept. 18, 1846. " Committed to jail, a negro man ; says his name is Josiah ; 7nuch scarred by the ivhip, and branded J. M. on the thigh and hips, in several places. The rim of his right ear has been bit or cut off.'' J. L. Jolley, Sheriff. From the Clinton Ga- zette, Mississippi, July 23, 1836. " Negro Dogs. The undersigned, having bought the entire pack of negro dogs, (of the Hays and Allen stock,) he now proposes to catch runaway negroes. His charge will be $3 per day for hunting, and $15 for catching a runaway." Wm. Gambrel. From the Alabama papers, Nov. 6, 1845. " Negro Dogs. The undersigned having an excellent pack of hounds for trailing and catching runaway slaves, informs the public that his prices will be," &c. P. Black. From the Dadeville Banner, Ala., Nov. 10, 1852. " Negro Dogs. The undersigned respectfully informs the citizens of Ouachita and adjacent parts, that he has a fine pack of dogs for catching negroes." M. C. Goff. From the Ouachita Register, La., June 1, 1852. " Was committed, a negro man ; has a scar on his right side, by a burn ; one on his knee, and one on the calf of his leg, by the bite of a dog.'' Stephen M. Jackson. From the Vicksburg Register, Marcli 10, 1827. " Ranaway, Isham ; has a scar upon the breast and upon the under lip, from the bite of a dog." Samuel Ragland. From the Huntsville Advocate, Dec. 23, 1837. " Ranaway, Bill ; has a scar over one eye ; also, one on his leg, from, the bite of a dog ; has a burn on his buttock, from a piece of hot iron, in shape of a T." John L. Dillahunty. From the New Orleans Commercial Bulletiji, July 21, 1837. " Committed to the jail of Shelby County, a negro boy of bright complexion, about twenty-five years of age ; says his name is James AV. Loyd ; claims to be free. He has three 14 mm PATRfARCMAL INSTITUTION. scars on his left leg, caused by a dog bite. If he has any master, he is notified to come forward, prove property, pay charges, and take him away, or he will be dealt with as the law directs.* W. H, Eames, Jailer. From the Loldsville Daily Jour7ial, Ky., Oct. 23, 1852. " A?iy person may lawfully kill a slave who has been out- lawed for running away, lurking in swamps," &c.-— Hay- wood's Manual of the Laws of North Carolina. Form of Outlawry. " Whereas, complaint upon oath hath this day been made to us, by William D. Cobb, of Jones Co., that two negro slaves belonging to him, named Ben and liigdon, have absented themselves from their master's service, and are supposed to be lurking about in this County, commit- ting acts of felony, or other misdeeds, these are to command said slaves to surrender themselves and return home to their master. And we do hereby, by virtue of the Act of Assem- bly, in such cases made and provided, declare that if the said slaves do not return home immediately, any person or per- sons may kill and destroy said slaves, by such means as he or they may think Jit, without incurring any penalty or forfeit- ure thereby." B. Coleman and James Jones, Justices of the Peace, Lenoir County. From the Neiobern Spectator, North Carolina. Reward. Ranaway from the subscriber, about three years ago, a negro man named ]^cn ; also, another negro, by the name of lligdon, who runaway on the 8th of this month. I will give $100 reward for each of the above negroes, to be delivered to me, or confined in the jail of Le- noir or Jones Co., or for the killing of them, so that I can see them." W. D. Cobb. From the Newbern (JV. C.) Spec- tator, Nov. 12, 1836. " To THE Owners of Runaway Negroes. A large mu- latto man, between thirty -five and forty years old, six feet in height, having a high forehead, and hair slightly grey, was * Slavery is such an inestimable boon, that the law always supposes a man to be a slave, till he proves himself free. If by any accident he fails to procure proof in season, he is sold at miction ; and even if he proves himself free, if he cannot procure money to pay the expenses of his im- prisonment, he is sold to pay his jail fees. SOUTHERN PROOFS THAT SLAVES ARE HAPPY. 15 killed near my plantation. He would not surrender^ but assaulted Mr. Bowen, who killed him in self-defence. It the owner desires further information, he can obtain it from the subscriber." Edmund S. McGehee. From the Macon Mes- senf/er, Georgia, June 14, 1838, " About the 1st of March last, the negro man Ransom left me, without the least provocation whatever. I will give $20 for said negro, if taken, dead or alive.''' Bryant Johnson. From the Macon Telegraph, Georgia, May 28, 1838. " Ranaway, my negro man Richard. A reward of $25 will be paid for his apprehension, dead i. Were all the miseries, the horrors of slavery, to burst at once into view, a peal of seven-fold thun- der could scarce strike greater alarm." — Benjamin Swaim, a distinguished lawyer of North Carolina, 1830. 40 THE PATRTARCIIAL INSTITUTION. SOUTHERN PROSPECTS FOR XORTHERI^T LABORERS AND ME- CHANICS. " Wanted to purchase, i\^o first-rate seamstresses, not over twenty-two years old." Douglass & Philpot. From the Morninc/ Chronicle, Mobile, Ala., June 8th, 1838. " Great Bargains ! A full set of first-rate medianics ; a large stock oi horses, mules, &c." H. Stidger. From the Vicksburgh Register, Mississippi, Sept. 26, 1836. " For sale, a man who is well acquainted with running a steam saw-mill.'''' Thomas H. Merrill. From the North Alabamian, May 11, 1838. " The subscriber will pay the highest price for mechanics, such as blacksmiths and carpenters y Seth Woodroof. From the Daily Virginian, Nov. 19, 1852. "The subscriber will sell, by public auction, stock of all kinds, belonging to the estate of William Gait, deceased. Some carpenters and blacksmiths, 33 mules, 200 hogs,''^ &c. James Galt. From the Richmond WJiig, Virginia. " Will be sold at auction, Andrew, twenty-four years of age, bricklayer and plasterer ; a thorough workman. George, twenty-two years of age, one of the best barbers in the State. James, nineteen years of age, an excellent painter. These boys are sold for no fault whatever." From the South Car- olinian, Dec. 4, 1852. " The undersigned has just arrived from Virginia with a very likely lot o^ field hands, men and women; also, house servants ; three cooks and a carpenter. A fine buggy horse. Call and see. TnoMAS G. James, Natchez, Mississippi, Sept. 28, 1852. "The subscriber will sell at auction, &c., able-bodied field hands, good cooks, house servants, an excellent blacksmith, hogs, mules, and neat cattle.''' M. C. Gray. From the Newberry Sentinel, South Carolina. "Ranaway, my boy George, about thirty-five years old; a bright mulatto, tall and quite likely ; very iiitelligent ; a SOUTHERN TESTIMONY CONCERNING SLAVERY. 41 good carpenter. He was brought, about three years ago, from St. Mary's, and had a icife there. $250 reward for his confinement in some jail in the State." W. J. Sassnet. From the Savannah Georgian, Sept. 6, 1852. " Ran away, Harry, forty years old; yellow complexion, stout built ; a carpenter by trade. He has a free mulatto woman for a wife, who lives in that part of Wilmington called Texas, where he will he likely to be lurking. $125 will be given for his confinement in any jail, or $150 for his head.'''' Guildford Horn. " If said Harry does not return to his master immediately, anij person may kill said slave, by such means as he may think fit," &c. James T. Miller and W. C. Bettencourt, Justices of the Peace. From the Wilmington {N. C.) Jour- nal, Dec. 13, 1850. SOUTHERN TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE EFFECTS OP SLA- VERY ON STATES. " If there be one who believes in the harmless character of this institution, let him compare the condition of the slave- holding portion of this Commonwealth, barren, d^olate, and seared as it were by the avenging hand of Heaven, with the descriptions we have of this country from those who first broke its soil. To what is the change ascribable? Alone to the withering and blasting effects of slavery ; to that vice in the organization of society, by which one half of its in- habitants are arrayed in interest and feeling against the other half. Let me refer the incredulous to the two States of Kentucky and Ohio. No diifcrence of soil, no diversity of climate, no diversity in the original settlement of those two States, can account for the remarkable disproportion in their national advancement. Separated by a river alone, they seem to have been purposely and providentially designed to exhibit in their future histories the difi'erence which necessa- rily results from a country free from the curse of slavery, 42 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. and a country afflicted with it. The same may be said of the two States of Missouri and Illinois." — C. J. Faulkner, of Virginia, in the Legislature, 1832. " The most potent cause of the more rapid advancement of Cincinnati than Louisville is the absence of slavery. The same influences that have made Ohio the young giant of the West, and are advancing Indiana to a higher grade than Ken- tucky, have operated in the Queen City. They have no dead weight to carry, and consequently have the advantage in the race." — Louisville Gazette, Kentucky. " As I descended the Chesapeake, the other day, I thought of the early descriptions of Virginia, by the followers of Raleigh and Smith, and I said to myself, how much it has lost of its primitive loveliness ! Does the eye dwell with most pleasure on its wasted fields, or its stunted forests of secondary growth of pine and cedar ? Can we dwell but with mournful regret on the temples of religion sinking into ruin, and those spacious dwellings, whose doors, once opened by the hand of liberal hospitality, are now fallen upon their portals, or closed in tenantless silence? Except on the banks of its rivers, the march of desolation saddens this once beautiful country. The cheerful notes of population have ceased. The wolf and wild deer, no longer scared from their ancient haunts, have descended from the mountains to the plains. They look on the graves of our ancestors, and tra- verse their former paths." — Hon. C. F. Mercer, in the Vir- ginia Convention, 1829. " The evils of this system cannot be enumerated. They glare upon us at every step. When the owner looks to his wasted estate, he knows and feels them. When the statesman examines the condition of his country, and finds her moral influence gone, her physical strength diminished, her political power waning, he sees and must confess them." — Mr. Sumner, in the Virginia Legislature, 1832. " Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor when it is performed by slaves. They pre- vent the emigration of whites, who really enrich and strength- en a country. They produce a most pernicious efl'ect on manners." — Col. Cteorge Mason, in the Virginia Conven- tion, 1829. SOUTHERN TESTIMONY CONCERNING SLAVERY. 48 " Slavery is ruinous to the whites. It retards improve- ment, roots out an industrious population, banishes the yeo- manry of the country, deprives the spinner, the weaver, the smith, the shoemaker, the carpenter, of employment and sup- port." — Thomas Marshall, in the Virginia Legislature, 1832. " It is slavery which, more than any other cause, keeps us back in the career of improvement. It stifles industry, and represses enterprise ; it is fatal to economy and providence ; it impairs our strength as a community ; it poisons morals at the fountain-head." — Address of Judge Gaston, of North Carolina. " Within the pestilential atmosphere of slavery, nothing succeeds. Progress and prosperity are unknown ; inanition and slothfulness ensue; every thing becomes dull, dismal and anproiitable ; wretchedness and desolation stand, or lie, in bold relief, throughout the land ; an aspect of most melan- 3holy inactivity and dilapidation broods over every city and town ; ignorance and prejudice sit enthroned over the minds jf the people." — H. K. Helper, of North Carolina. " I can show you, with sorrow, in the older portions of Al- abama, and in my native County of Madison, the sad memo- rials of the artless and exhausting culture of cotton. Our small planters, after taking the cream oiF their lands, unable to restore them by rest, manures, or otherwise, are going further West and South, in search of other virgin lands, which they may and will despoil in like manner.''^ — Hon. D. C. Clay, U. S. Senator from Alabama. " Slavery is a mildew, which has blighted every region it las touched, ever since the creation of the world. Illustra- tions from the history of other countries and other times night be instructive ; but we have evidence nearer at hand n the short histories of the different States of this confede- racy, which are impressive in their admonitions and conclu- dve in their character."— Mr. Broadnax, in the Virginia Legislature, 1882. " Of the multitude who seek an asylum in the empire of iberty, how many turn their steps to the region of the slave ? Nfone. There is a malaria in the atmosphere of those regions, witnessed in a sparse population of freemen, deserted habita- 44 THE PATRIAUCIIAL INSTITUTION. tions, and fields without culture. Even the wolf, after the lapse of a hundred years, returns to howl over the desolations of slavery." — Mr. Cusxis, in the Virginia Legislature, 1832. " We have been outstripped by States to whom nature has been far less liberal. It is painful to consider what might have been, under other circumstances, the amount of general wealth in Virginia." — Thomas M. Kanbolph, Governor of Virginia ; Address to the Legislature, 1820. " We have found that' this evil has preyed upon the very vitals of the Union, and has been prejudicial to all the States in which it has ever existed." — President Munroe, in the Convention of Virginia. General Washington, in a letter to Sir John Sinclair, speaks of the exhausted condition of much of the land in Maryland and Virginia, particularly in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, where plantations were not worth more than five dol- lars an acre. He states that the price of land in Pennsylva- nia averaged more than twice that amount; giving as a reason, that emigrants were attracted thither, '• because there are in Pennsylvania laws for the gradual abolition of slavery, which neither Maryland nor Virginia have at present ; but which nothing is more certain than that they must have, and at a period not remote." " The value of land per acre in New Jersey, which is a second-rate Free State, is $28.76. The value of land in South Carolina, which is, par excellence, the model Slave State, is $1.32."— H. R. Helper. " Let it be admitted that the white inhabitants of the Slaveholding States are amply competent to hold the slaves in secure and pacific subjection. Are we to sit down content because, from our own vigilance and courage, the torch of the incendiary and the dagger of the midnight assassin may never be applied ? Impossible ! No people can live in a state of perpetual excitement and apprehension, although real danger may be long deferred. Such a condi- tion of the public mind is destructive of all social happiness, and consequently must prove essentially injurious to the prosperity of a community that has the weakness to suffer under a continual panic." — Heport of the Legislature of South Carolina, 1835. SOUTHERN OPINIONS ON SLAVERY EXTENSION. 45 " If slavery can be eradicated, let us get rid of it. If it cannot, let that melancholy fact be distinctly ascertained, and let those who are now awaiting, with painful solicitude, the result of your deliberations, pack up their household goods, and find amonrj the prairies of the West that security and repose which their native State does not afford.''"' — Mr. McDowell, in the Virginia Legislature, 1832. At a Convention held in Philadelphia, in 1856, Mr. John C. Underwood, of Western Virginia, after drawing a deplor- able picture of the consequences of slavery in that State, said : " This is the work which Virginia is doing to-day. Shall the same infamous work curse the future States to spring up in the West, which were destined to be the homes of freemen? Shall these homes, dedicated to you and your children, and your children's children for ever, become the habitations of freedom and happiness, or the habitations of cruel oppression and misery? I appeal to you to let the fate of Virginia be a warning. Let us all remember the ad- monitions of Jefferson. Let us remember that the curse of Heaven ever is, and must be, upon oppression." SOUTHERN OPINIONS CONCERNING THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. " I have long considered negro slavery a most serious evil, both socially and politically, and I should rejoice in any scheme to get rid of such a burden. The Congress of 1787 adopted an ordinance which prohibits the existence of invol- untary servitude in our North West Territories for ever. I consider it a wise measure. It met the assent and appro- val of nearly every member from the States more immedi- ately interested in slave labor. The prevailing opinion of Virginia is against the spread of slavery in our new Terri- tories ; and I trust we shall have a confederacy of Free States.'" — Gen. Wasuington, to Lafayette. 46 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. In an Address before the Colonization Society, the Hon. Henry Clay, speaking of an attempt, more than sixty years ago, to adopt gradual emancipation in Kentucky, said : " We were overpowered by numbers, and submitted to the decision of the majority. But I never have, and never shall, cease to regret a decision, the effect of which has been to place us in the rear of our neighbors, who are exempt from slavery, in the state of agriculture, the progress of manufactures, the advance of improvement, and the general prosperity of so- ciety." In the year 1850, he said in the U. S. Senate : "Coming from a Slave State, as I do, I owe it to myself, I owe it to truth, to say that no earthly power shall compel me to vote for the introduction of slavery, where it had not previously ex- isted. While we reproach, and justly too, our British an- cestors for the introduction of this institution upon the conti- nent of America, /, for one, am unwilling that the posterity of the present inhabitants of California and New Mexico shall reproach us for doing just what we reproach Great Britain for doing to ourselves. So long as God allows the vital current to flow through my veins, / will never, never, never, by word or thought, by mind or will, aid in admitting one rood of Free Territory to the everlasting curse of human bondage ! " " One of the occasions on which I saw Henry Clay rise higher than I ever saw him before, was in the debate on the admission of California, when he declared that for no earthly consideration loould he carry slavery into places where it did not exist before. It was a great and proud day for Mr. Clay. I could have wished that I had spoken the same words. I speak them now, telling you they were his, and adopting them as my own.^^ — Hon. Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri. LEAGUE FOR THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. 47 SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN DEMOCRATS NOW LEAGUED FOR THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. " The determination of the South is fixed and unalterable, that thej will have an expansion of Slave Territory." * * " There is but one mode by which, in my humble judgment, the institution of slavery can be perpetuated for any consid- erable number of years. That mode is by expansion.^'' — Hon. Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi. " Free society has failed, and that which is not free must he substituted.'''' — Senator Mason, of Virginia. " Policy and humanity alike forbid the extension of the evils of free society to new people and coming generations ^ — Richmond Enquirer., Virginia. " Slavery should pour itself abroad without restraint^ and find no limit but the Southern Ocean.'''' " I would introduce it into the very heart of the North.''' — Hon. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia. "We will call the roll of our slaves on Bunker Hill." — Hon. Mr. Toombs, of Georgia. " I want Cuba, I want Tamaulipas, Potosi, and one or two others of the Mexican States ; and I want them all for the same reason : for the planting and spreading of slavery. I would spread the blessing of slavery, like tlie religion of the Divine Master^ to the uttermost ends of the earth. Re- bellious and wicked as the Yankees have been, I would extend it even to them." * * "I would make a refusal to ac- quire territory, because it was to be slave-territory, a cause for disunion. — Hon. Mr. Brown, of Mississippi. " There is no hope for the South, other than the Demo- cratic party." — Hon. Mr. Toombs, of Georgia. " The Democrats of the South, in the present canvass, cannot rely on the old grounds of defence and excuse for slavery ; for they seek not merely to retain it where it is, but to extend it into regions ivhere it is unknoivn. Much less can they rely on the mere Constitutional guarantees of sla- very ; for such reliance is pregnant with the admission that 48 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. slavery is wrong, and, hut for the Constitutioih should be abolished. If we stop there, we weaken our cause ; for we projjose to introduce' into new Territory human heings, whom we assert to be unfit for liberty^ self-government^ and equal association with other men. We must go a step further. We must show that African slavery is a moral, religious, natural, and probably, in the general, a necessary institution of society. This is the only lin3 of argument that will enable Southern Democrats to maintain the doctrines of State equality and slavery extension^ * * « Northern Democrats need not go thus far. They do not seek to extend slavery, but only to agree to its extension, as a matter of right on our part." — Richmond Enquirer, Virginia. " Shall the Democratic Party fear this issue ? No indeed ! There is not a single Democrat in the North who is opposed to the extension of Southern society, or so-called extension of slavery." — N. Y. Day Book, a Democratic paper. " I trust that the day will come when the principles of De- mocracy, as understood arid practised at the South, will prevail over the entire country." — Senator Evans, of S. C. " We rejoice in our candidates as national ; in our princi- ples as national; the same every where." — Senator Bright, of Indiana. " The platform on which we have placed our candidates is broad enough to cover, and does cover, the whole Union. Its j^i^inciples are the same in the Free States as in the Slave States." — Senator Hunter, of Virginia. " The Democracy is the same every where — North, South, East and West. It seeks the ascendancy of the same j)rin- ciples, and the success of the same measures, in all sec- tions." — The Washingto7i Union, D. C. " The Democracy is national. It is the same in Maine and Massachusetts, that it is in Virginia and South Carolina." — The Albany Argus, New York. CONCLUDING REMARKS. COI^CLUDING REMARKS. Human nature is essentially the same in all nations and ages ; being modified only by the laws that control and reg- ulate it, and the social conditions under which it is developed. Hence laws and social institutions are of immense import- ance. In all countries, there are men who do not scruple to build up their own fortunes at the expense of their neighbors. Anger, lust and avarice are powerful passions, and glaring- man ifestations of them abound every ivhere. But every in- telligent and reflecting reader of the preceding pages will readily perceive that countries blest with the institution of slavery have an advantage peculiar to themselves. In all such communities, capital is irresponsible hy laic. Encroach- ments on the laborer cannot be punished hy law, for the simple reason that the laborer is a chattel, and having no legal rights, he can have no wrongs that can be legally re- dressed. It is true that the degree of Patriarchal discipline is regulated by law, when it is administered in puMic ; that inconvenience is, however, trifling ; for history shows that Judge Lynch rides over all such regulations, whenever he sees fit ; and as for discipline in private, over that the law assumes no control whatsoever. Slaves cannot testify in court, even if murder is committed in the presence of a dozen of them. This circumstance renders the regulation of labor exceedingly convenient ; it being placed entirely in the hands of " unchecked, unregulated, and irresponsible capital." Communities incommoded by free institutions cannot enjoy these inestimable advantages. The enlightened and chival- rous minority have no such facilities for compelling " greasy mechanics, filthy operatives, and small-fisted farmers," to toil for them without wages. Doubtless, some of them would like such fiicilities extremely well; nor would they object to including within their privileges the possession of their neigh- bors' wives and daughters, as " brood mares." But, unfortu- nately, in Free States, the laws come in the way of such ar- ragcments ; and when such experiments are attempted, both law and 'public opinion become troublesome. No wonder that state of society is pronounced a " complete failure," where there are so many imncdimonts in the way of " capi- 3 50 THE PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. tal," that seeks to be " unchecked, unregulated, and irrespon- sible " ! To laborers, also, the " Patriarchal Institution " offers many inducements, though they are not so obvious as the ad- vantages to capitalists. In the first place, the South sets a high value upon them. The Greenville JiJnterprise, a paper published in South Carolina, lately announced that " George, a likely fellow, said to be a good joiner and carpenter, was bought by the Rev. J. P. Boyce for $3,500 ; and Mr. l^oyce was afterv/ard offered $4,000 for him." . How satisfied and proud laborers must be in a community that estimates them so highly ! Don't your mouth water for the situation ? It is true you would receive no wages for your valuable services ; but, to balance that, you would be relieved from all the cares and responsibilities entailed upon property. Your dwellings might not be the most comfortable ; but then you would have nei- ther rent nor taxes to pay. If you should happen to have a generous master, you might be dressed as fine as " Dandy Jim"; and if your owner deemed a "few tattered rags about the loins " sufficient, you would at least have the advantage of having no tailor's bills to pay. "A peck of corn a week " half the year, and sweet potatoes the other half, might seem rather monotonous provender ; but then you would be almost sure not to die of repletion, or dyspepsia. The frequency and severity of your floggings would depend entirely on the temper and disposition of 3^our master and mistress, or of the overseer they employed ; but if you should happen to be killed in the course of customary discipline, it would be a great satisfaction to surviving friends to know that you "died of moderate correction." A chattel has also the advantage of being relieved from all family cares and expenses. He who is allowed to hold no property will not be troubled with bills for crinolines or new-fashioned bonnets. It might be a little unpleasant to see your wife examined on the auction- block ; but you would soon conquer prejudices on that point, knowing that the proceeding was according to laio. She might happen to be sold into a State far distant from the place where your own lot was cast ; but the separation would offer advantages to both. The proverb says, " Variety is the spice of life"; and you could both forthwith form nev/ con- CONCLUDING REMARKS. 61 ncctlons, wltliout the formality or expense of weddings. You would have neither law nor public opinion to trouble you ; for you would not be " persons," in the eye of the law, and your characters would belong to your masters, It would be for his interest to lend you one of his handmaids, that you might raise up a crop of children, whose "market value would be increased by the infusion of Anglo-Saxon blood. This would be peculiarly the case if they were girls; for the vir- tuous horror of amalgamation it3 entirely overcome by the consideration that " crossing the breed " often produces spec- imens of rare beauty. It might at first pain you a little to see your daughters held as property ; but if they were good- looking, they might find so much favor in the eyes of the master, that he would bestow upon them gold rings for ears and fingers; symbols of a connection "ennobling to both" parties. If this arrangement should excite the jealousy of his wife, the worst that could happen v/ould be the having your daughter sold to some trader, making up a herd of " brood mares" for the market; and he would be sure to treat her respectfully and kindly, modesty and tender-heartedness being the inevitable results of his dignified vocation. Your grand-children might be sold by the sherifl', at "eight months old"; but then the blessings of involuntary servitude would be just as safely secured to them, as if they remained with their mothers. As for scruples on any of these subjects, you would soon be effectually taught that the lohole of religious and moral obligation is comprised in the injunction, "Ser- vants, obey your masters in all things." What a convenience to have all questions of conscience thus simplified to a unity ! It might at first trouble you to have your children forbidden to learn to read and Vv'rite, under penalty of " twenty lashes"; but you know it is a time-honored maxim that "ignorance is bliss"; and in their situation, they would have no use for knowledge. If they knew how to read about free countries, it might excite "dissatisfaction in their minds"; for, to the young and inexperienced, freedom appears to be a blessing, t'lough in reality it is not. If they knew how to write, they might be tempted to forge permissions from their masters to go and sec their mothers, or eisters ; and it is a great inconve- nience to have moohanic's, laborers, or house-servants, form a taste for travcllinii; about; thoy might eari-y it loo far. 52 THE JPATllIAllCUAL INSTITUTION. You of course perceive tliere would be no need of their learning arithmetic; for those who can make no contracts, and hold no property, are released from all necessity of ci- phering. Don't despair because it happens to be your misfortune to be born under free institutions ! That can be remedied ; if not for yourselves, at least for your childi-en ; and measures are actively in train for it. Neither your complexion nor your intelligence need to be any hindrance. The Power that rules the nation has announced its decision, that the right to hold slaves "■ does not depend on difference of com- plexion " ; and advertisements show that " very intelligent " men and women, with " clear white complexions, blue eyes, and sandy hair," are continually sold upon the auction-block. In 1834, I talked with a blue-eyed Irish girl, named Mary Grilmore, who was claimed as a slave, and was with difficulty proved to have been free-born. A few weeks ago, I saw a notice in the papers of an Irishman in the Western States, who was claimed as a slave, and was foolishly trying to prove himself free. In 1855, a white girl, fourteen years old, daughter of Mr. Samuel Goodshall, of Downington, Chester Co., Penn., while walking in the road, was seized by two men, a plaster put upon her mouth, hurried into a carriage, and driven furiously toward Maryland. They threatened to kill her if she made any noise. But she was taken from them by a company of colored men on the road, and was re- stored to her parents. About the same time, an attempt was made to carry off, by violence, a white lad of fifteen ; but he succeeded in making his escape, after the darkness of evening came on. It is very possible that our opportunities for enjoying the beneficent institution of slavery will not long be limited to the chances of kidnapping successfully. The blessing seems to be in a fair way to be universally disseminated. Gov. Wise, of Virginia, wants it to have " no limit but the ocean,*' and kindly wishes to carry it into " the heart of the North." Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, holds out to us the cheering pros- pect of "calling the roll of his slaves on Bunker Hill"; and Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, is so benevolent, that, "re- bellious and wicked as the Yankees have been, he would extend the blessings of slavery even to (hem.'^ We know CON'CLUDINQ REMARKS. 53 also the encouraging fact that the Democratic Party, North and South, are leagued together, to "stop the extension of the evils of free society." But those who are impatient to become slaves need not wait for the result of political movements. I dare say Gov. Wise and Mr. Brown would kindly raise a subscription for paying their expenses South. Would it not be a judicious move for our " greasy mechanics, filthy operatives, and small-fisted firmers," to apply to them immediately for the privileges of the auction-block ? How happy they would be, having en- lightened owners to vote for them, and with no necessity of troubling their own heads about laws or elections ! With no wives to clothe, and no families to care for ! Knowing that their children will be sure to grow up in blessed ignorance, and that their daughters will be cared for as tenderly as " brood mares " ! How enviable would be their situation, working in those sunny fields from dawn till dark, with the fragrance of orange blossoms on the air, and the varied mel- odies of the mocking-bird, occasionally accompanied by the quick staccato movement of a kind driver's whip ! The question is fairly before the American people. It is for them to decide whether our fathers were mistaken in con- sidering Freedom a blessing; whether our Declaration of In- dependence embodies eternal principles, or is a mere " rhet- orical flourish." Slavery and Freedom are antagonistic ele- ments. One must inevitably destroy the other. Which do you choose ? Momentous issues are at stake on your decision. " Once, to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side ; Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offers each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes by for ever 'twixt that darkness and that light," APPENDIX. WHAT A SOUTHERN LL.D. THINKS OF SLAVEEY. The Southern statesman vindicates the institution of slavery on the ground that it finds the negro race already so degraded as to unfit it fi^r a state of freedom. lie does not argue that it is right to seize those who, hy the possession of culli' vated intellects and pure morals, (!) are fit for freedom, and debase them in order to prepare them for social bondage. He does not imagine that it is ever right to shoot, burn, or corrupt, in order to reduce any portion of the enlightened universe to a state of servitude. He merely insists that those only who are already unfit for a higher and nobler state than one of slavery, should be held by society in such a state. This position, although it is so prominently set forth by every advocate of slavery at the South, is almost invaria- bly overlooked by the Northern Abolitionists. They talk, and reason and declaim, indeed, just as if we had caught a bevy of black angels, as they were winging their way to some island of purity and bliss here upon earth, and reduced them from their heavenly state, by the most diabolical cruelties and oppressions, to one of degradation, misery and servitude. They forget that Africa is not yet a paradise, and that Southern servitude is not quite a hell. They forget — in the heat and haste of their argument they forget — -that the insti- tution of slavery is designed by the South not for the enlight- ened and the free, but only for the ignorant and the debased. They need to be constantly reminded that the institution of slavery is not the mother, but the daughter, of ignorance and degradation. It is, indeed, the legitimate offspring of that intellectual and moral debasement which, for so many thou- sand years, has been accumulating and growing upon the Af- rican race. And if the Abolitionists at the North will only invent Bomc method by which all this frightful mass of deg- APPENDIX. 55 radation may be blotted out at once^ then will we most cheer- fully consent to '* the immediate abolition of slavery." * * The precept which requires us to do as we would be done by, was intended to enlighten the conscience. It is used by Abolitionists to hoodwink and deceive the conscience. This precept directs us to conceive ourselves placed in the condition of others, in order that we may the more clearly perceive what is due to them. The Abolitionist employs it to convince us that, because we desire liberty for ovu'selves, we should ex- tend it to all men, even to those who are not qualified for its enjoyment, and to whom it would prove " the greatest possi- ble injury." He employs it, not to show us what is due to others, but to persuade us to injure them ! He may deceive himself; but so long as we believe what even he admits as highly probable — namely, that the "abolition of slavery would be the greatest possible injury to the slaves them- selves" — we shall never use the divine precept as an instru- ment of delusion and of wrong. What ! inflict the greatest injury on our neighbor, and that, too, cut of pure Christian charity? — From " An Essay on Liberty and Slavery," by Albert Taylor Bledsoe, LL.D., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Virginia. DC^ The Neio York Trihune briefly states that the general issue of the campaign is as follows : " Shall human shivery be, or not be, further extended and fortified under the protec- tion and by the virtual sanction and aid of the government ? " This is the question, with the Republicans. They would reduce the labor system of the South to the same degrading standard loitli that of the North. They revile slavery in the abstract, when even a casual observer cannot fail to see that the luhiie slavery of these Aholiiionisis is infiniteJy loorse than the Hack slavery of the Southerners. They do not recognize that they are the very worst of slaveholders, and that their system of labor is iiifinitely more oppressive to the laboring classes than any thing (hat is known at the South, These Linconists would not extend negro slavery into tliB territories, but they would perpetuate the slavery of the poor Vvhite race in all the States. ]>eautiful philanthio- py ! Adorable })hllosop!jy ! — IJa/liinorc Clipper. 54 tf ^'^ <^°'^ \^^^: j?^*. ^0l^»; ^. <„ -'o.T* .0 .<*'> %'*'^r7i*.A '. '^o^ .-. 4pVV til ^O _ _ ,. . » »T "* ^.% /\. 'o^. *'T7r^\A *^^\ .. .r .0...^^ ••*• ,4>' ..^.."^ 77i^ A WERT BOOKBINONC Jan ■ fet) 1989