Newspaper Page Text
BY JAMES GARDNER, JR.
THE CONSTITUTIONALIST.
OFFICE'IN McINTOSII-STREET,
Third door from the North- B'cs/ corner of Froc.d-st.
Sales of LAND by Administrators, Executors, or
Guardians, are required, by law, to be held on the
first Tuesday in the month, between the hours of
ten in the forenoon and three in the afternoon, at
the Court House in which the property is situate.
Notice of these sales must be given in a public
» Gazette sixty bays previous to the day of sale.
Sales of NEGROES must be at public auction, on
the first Tuesday of the month, between the usual
hours of sale, at the place of •public sales in the
•county where the Letters Testamentary, or Ad
ministration, or Guardianship, may have been
granted, first giving sixty days.’ notice thereof,
tn one of the public Gazettes of this State , and at
the door of the Court House where such sales are
•- to be held.
•Notice for the sale of Personal Property must be
given in like-manner forty days previous to day
• of sale.
-Notice to the Debtors and Creditors of an Estate,
' must be published for forty days.
Nittice that application will be made to the Court of
Ordinary for leave to sell LAND, must be pub-
S lished for four months.
"Notice for leavfe to soil NEGROES, frnist be pub
lished four months before any order absolute .
can be.given bv the Court.
SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 21, 1315.
ILZ We have been so frequently urged to
the able letters of Guv. Hammcmd,
we will not longer postpone doing so. No
subject can be mure interesting to our readers,
and seldom is one more ably handled. We
•w.ll continue publishing portions of these let- j
ters in each number till they are finished.
HONORS TO GENERALJACKSON.
The Columbus Enquirer, an able and influ- '
ential whig paper, announces to itsjeaders !
-the demise of the great Patriot, in an appro- i
priate border of mourning. The compliment
is nothing but adeserved tribute to the memory !
oi an illustrious man, who has “done the
state some service,” and whose memory will
be fondly cherished in the hearts of his coun
trymen. But it comes with a peculiar grace
from a political opponent, and speaks well lor
the good taste and proper feelings, by which
it is prompted. We are sorry that there have
been any omissions, in Georgia especially-,
among the whig press, us this usual token ot
respect to the mighty dea»l. It seems to give
confirmation to the aphorism of Mark Antony:
“The evil that men do lives after them.
The good is often interred with their bones.”
We are pleased to perceive that in Charles
ton, all former feuds, and all party feelings
are forgotten, and that her citizens have as
sembled, and..resolved, that they will honor
the venerated hero, by a funeral oration and ;
other appropriate solemnities. We learn from i
a private letter from Milledgeville, that the I
city authorities there have taken similar steps, I
and the public offices at the State House have i
been tastefully hung in mourning by the ladies !
of Milledgeville. We learn also, that Gov-1
ernor Craw'hJrd has ordered that one hun- ■
dred guns should be tired at intervals, in
honor of the dead. We knew that his Excel- 1
lency’s manly heart would sympathise with '
This national bereavement. ~ ! I
OREGON. | ,
The papers have been fruitful of -specula- I*
lions relative to a special Minister to England.
The last information which is authentic,is,that
Mr. McLame is selected for that service, if;
this be true, the courTtry wall be satisfied with
the selection. But, although it may be that
the present ambassador to the Court of St. i
James is to be recalled, we doubt whether
his successor is to be-endowed with extraor-
dinary powers, or charged with any special
authority in reference to the Oregon question.
We should be-sorry if it were so. It would ;
then seem, as if we yielded lo the imperious •
demands of England, and were hastening to
her Court with obsequious alacrity to settle
this question. It would seem as rs the last |
roar of the British Lion had ruffled the feallt- I
•ers of our own American Eagle “towering
in his pride of flight.” It would be a prepos
terous illusion. That glorious emblem ofi
-our country but personifies the spirit of our
people, and the character of our institutions. I
Emblazoned upon the banner of the stripes '
and stars, with one claw’ it presents to the
world the olive branch of peace, but in the I
other is held the deadly quiver in reserve for
•our assailants. 'Phis Oregon question is
purely an American question! It relates to
the soil, and sovereignty, and jurisdiction of
a portion of the American continent, and‘on
this continent should the controversy be set-I
tied. If England has a claim, let her send ;
her special ambassador to assert and prove it. 1
The negotiation commenced with us at Wash
ington under the auspices of Mr. Calhoun,;
and may with great propriety be continued
under his able successor. There is a pecu
liar propriety in its being entrusted to Mr. ;
Buchanan This, as a matter of commercial '
or agricultural interest, is a northern ques-;
Jon. In this view the south Iras but little I
.practical interest. Therefore, it is peculiar
ly proper that a northern man should settle '
nt. It becomes a national question, and !
equally interesting to us and to all, when na
tional honor becomes involved. When that
requires to be vindicated, the south will not
be found wanting to her ancient character,
and her patriotic devotion to the interests and
institutions of our country.
AGRICULTURE.
We have been requested to devote a por
tion of our paper to agricultural subjects.—
Several have suggested’that it would add to
't* j interest of its columns with a considera
ble portion of its readers. Whenever we ;
*n< with an article of unusual interest
an. mportance, we should not hesitate to
give it a place, as we have so many plant
ers among our readers. -But we areaware
how little this desultory mode of conveying
information in a corner of a paper, mainly
devoted to other topics, cafi accomplish for
so great and all-important an interest. Agri
culture, the great and honorable pursuit of a
large portion of mankind, takes its place
among the sciences. It is one deserving the
studious and devoted attention of its follow
ers. It calls into play high faculties of the
mind, and renders tributary to its service,
many branches of science and the arts. It
is not to be learnt in a day, not to be explored
in all its ramincaticns in the longest life.—
New discoveries are being daily made, and
new improvements are brought to light.—Con-
®lje Georgia Constitutionnlist.
trusting its present condition with that of a gen
eration back,and noting its wonderful strides
we are almost‘tempted to consider it as just
emerging from infancy into manly vigor, yet
Laving much still to achieve. Looking at
the vastness of the subject, we feel that our
means and opportunities are inadequate to do
it justice, or be of material service. Every
planter should take an agricultural paper.—
Most of -our readers of that pursuit probably
do so. At any rate it is almost lime that
the antiquated prejudice against book farming
should be totally exploded, and that rnen
should feel that no one is o:> old to learn, and
what is worth learning even in agriculture,
is worth being studied in-print. • We feel
that it is -eur dn’y, in the promotion of
the planting interests;-on all due occasions,
to urge the propriety of subscribing to papers '
devoted to agriculture.
O'We acknowledge the receipt of the first
number of “The Chattahoochee,” a neat j
i weekly, published at LaGrange, Ga. We :
■ wish every success, personally and pecuni
arily, to its editor, of course, cannot to M
his political principles. We think that there ;
are 100 many Whigs out in Troup already.
TTMr. Holmes of the Literary Depot, lias '
laid upon our table the following works :
Ruth Whalley*'ur the Fair Puritan, a Ro-
I mmce of the Bay Province, by Henry Wm. I
■ Herbert.
And tlie Vestiges of the Natural History
I of Creation.
The latter is by a nobleman of some note
! in the British Parliament, and bus produced'
’ a sensation in the scientific world.
I
17 From the Fioru ian ot the 11th instant, '
we learn that the majority of Moseley, (dem.) j
over Call, (whig.) for Governor will be 498, I
and Levy, (dem.) over Putnam, (whig) 1082. i
The democratic majority in the legislature !
will be about 22 on joint ballot. These fig
ures are not olficial, but approximate to the i
result.
GRAND STATE JUBILEE.
All citizens us Florida, without distinction of j
party, who can attend, are requested to meet at
the Capitol, on Monday evening next, at 3 o’clock,
to make arrangements fora military and civic pro
cession and proper ceremonies, (if acquiesced in
by the State Legislature when it assembles,) to be
ob.-erveu on the important and gler'oiis occasion of
Florida. assuming her equal station in the Ameri
can Confederacy as a "free, sovereign and hide- I
pendent State,” and the inauguration of the first !
Go”ernur of the State in office.—
[ET’It is estimated tn a Soutnern paper that I
from forty so sixty thousand Southerners visit
the Northern States every summer, and that ■
they spend the sum of $12,000,000, exclusive j
of outlays for clothing, furniture, &c.
Interest on United Stales Loans.— The Se
cretary of the Treasury gives official notice
that the interest on Untied States loans wf
1842 and 1843, payable on the Ist day of July
next, will be paid at the following deposito
ries, viz: Washington, D. C., Bank of .detro
poll.*-, pc<u.e Isa.it L; Paua-
delphiu, Philadelphia Bank; New Yotk, Bank ;
of America; Boston, Merchants’ Bank.
From the West Indies.— The United States Ga
zette has advices from Barbados*. to the 27th ult.
—The Sugar crop is likely to be short again this
year. American provisions scarce. An emigrant!
ship had arrived at Deinerara with 352 East In
dians for the plantation-, a part of five thousand
contracted for. On reference to u Colonial report,
we find that twelve thou-and Africans from the j
Coast have been landed in tue same Colony since
the emigration scheme was broached.
!
IN TERE 5f IN GIN UID EN T.
Every thing that relates to Andrew Jack
son, the Hero of New Orleans, and the friend
: of his country, is of deep interest to the Ame
rican people. And although the incident we ;
i are about to relate is, in itself, of no great in- ■
' terest, it becomes so to us in consequence oi
i those connected with it.
At the Nashville Convention of August
: last, we visited the Hermitage (only 12 miles
• distant) in company with Judge Douglas of
■ this state, and some other of our fello.v citi
: sens. The Hermitage was crowded with
1 people from almost every state, who had been
; invited thither by the venerable patriot on the
' day succeeding the Convention.
Governor Clay, of Alabama, was near Gen-'
; eral Jackson, who was himself sitting on the i
j sola in tire hail of his residence; and as etn-.h
person entered, Governor Clay introduced
him lo the Hero, and he passed along. When ■
Judge Douglas was introduoed,General Jack- !
son raised his still brilliant eyes, and gazed
for a moment in tiro countenance oi the Judge,
still retaining his hand: "Are you the Mr. i
Douglass of Illinois, who delivered a speech i
last sesrion on the subject of the fine imposed I
on me for declaring martial law at New Or
i leans?”asked General Jackson.
i “1 have delivered a speech in the House of;
! Representatives upon tiiai subject,” was the
; modest reply of our friend.
“Then stop!” said Gen. Jackson. “Sit I
; down here, beside me! I desire to return lo
; von my thanks for that speech.—You are the
I first man that hus ever relieved my mind on
■ a subject which has rested upon it for thirty ;
years. My enemies have always charged
me with violating the constitution of my j
country, by declaring martial law at New
Orleans; and iny friends have always admit
ted the violation; but have contended that
| circumstances justified me in that violation. ;
1 never could understand how it was that I
the performance of a solemn duty to my
country —a duty which, il l bud neglected to
perfoim, would have made men traitor in the ;
sio-ht of God and man—could properly be pro
nounced a violation of the constitution. I 1
felt convinced in my own mind that I was not i
guilty of such a honious offence.; but I could
j never make out a legal justification of my
course.; nor has it ever been done, sir, until;
y»u,on the floor of Congress, at the late ses- i
sion, established it beyond the possibility oi ■
cavil or doubt.
I thank you, sir for that speech.. It has re
lieved my mind .from the only circumstance
that rested painfully upon it. Throughout;
rpy whole life, I never performed an official |
act which I viewed as a violation of the con- i
stitution of my country; and 1 can now go
dow nto the grave in peace, with the perfect
consciousness that I have'not broken, at any I
period of my life, the constitution or laws of I
my country.”
Thus spoke the old Hero, his countenance
brightened by emotions which it is impossible ;
for us to describe. We turned to look at;
Douglass. He was speechless. He could ;
not reply; but convulsively shaking the aged
veteran’s hand, he rose and left the room— !
Certainly, Gen. Jackson had paid him the ’
highest compliment he could have bestowed
on any individual. — Illinois Stale Register.
■ i [From the Columbia South Carolinian.]
. I GOV. HA ALMOND'S LETTER ON SOUTH
ERN SLAVERY.
j Addrcssidto Thomas Cluikson. the English Ahol tionist
SILVER Bi.uff, (S. C.,)Jan. 23, 1845.
1 Sir:—l received a short time ago, a letter
I from the Rev. Will mghby M. Dickinson,
' dated at your residence, *’Play ford Hall, near
■lpswich, 2.6th Nov., 4841,” in' which was in
closed a copy of your Circular Letter address
ed to professing Christians, in our Northern
States, having no concern with slavery, and
to others there. I presume that Mr. Dickin
son’s fetter was v. rilten with your knowledge,
I and the document inc'josed with your consent
; aiitfttpprobafion. 1 therefore feel that there
! is no impropriety in my addressing my reply
directly to yourself, especially as there is
nothing in Mr. Dickinson’s commauicalion, I
requiring serious notice. Having abundant'
leisure it will be a recreation lor me to de
vote a portion of it to an examination and
j free discussion of the question of Slavery as
• it exists in ot:r Southern-States: and since you I
I have thrown down the gauntlet io me, I du ;
! not hesitate to take ii up.
I Familiar as you have been with the dis- ;
• mission of this subject in all its aspects, and I
■ under all the excitements it has occasioned
! for sixty veins past. I may not be able to, pre-.!
(seal much that will be new to you. Nor i
ought I to indulge the hope of materially as- ;
fectrng the opinions you have sp long eher- i
ished, and so zealously promulgated. Still, ;
, time and experience have developed facts, i
I constantly furnishing fresh tests to opinions ;
f >rmed 6u year-since, an ! continually placing
I this great question in points of view, which !
I could scarcely occur to the most consummate
‘ intellect even a quarter of a centnary ago :
l And which may not have occurred yet to
| those whose previous convictions, prejudices 1
i and habits of thmight have thoroughly a>ad I
permanently biased them to one fixed wav nf
; looking at the matter: ' While there are pe
i euli.irities in the operation of every si.ciaLl
i system, anil special local as well as moral ■
causes materially affecting it,, which no one, |
: placed at the distance you are from us, can
1 comprehend or properly appreciate,—
i insides, it may be possibly, a novelty to you ■
! to encounter one who conscientiously be- !
i lieves the Dome.-tic Slavery of these States
I to l>e not only an inexorable necessity for the j
1 present, but a moral and humane institution, '
| productive of the greatest political and social
i advantages, and who is disposed, as I am, to '
1 defend it on these grounds. . j
I do not propose, however, to defend the As-1
rican slave trade. That is no longer a ques
tion. Doubtless great evils arise from it as it
has been, and is tuw conducted: unnecessary
wars and cruel kidnapping in Africa: the mo-t
! shocking barbarities i>n the Middle Pas-|
i sage—and perhaps a fess 1 amane system of I
j slavery in countries continuaily supntied with
; fresh laborers at a cheap rate. The evils of I
•it, however, it may Le fairly presumed, are
greatly exaggerated. And if I might judge .
! of the truth ot transactions stated as occiirino-1
in this trade, by that of those reported as
transpiring among us, I should not hesitate j
to say that a large proportion of the stories in '
circulation are unfounded, and most of the i
remainder highly colored.
On the passage of the Act of Parliament i,
prohibrlmg this trade to British subjects, rests I
what you esteem the glory of yeur life. It!
required twenty years oi arduous agitation, j
and the interveninsr ’extraordinary uolitica! t
eVvalH, l<* convince y<«.»r - .-»x - *. ,
among the rest your pious King, of the ex- ;
pediency of this measure; and it is but just I
to say, that no one individual rendered more :
essential service to the cause than yon did. In I
reflecting on the subject, you mu.-t often ask;
yourself: What after all has been accom-;
I plished; how much human suffering has been ;
averted; h<>w much hum in beings have be< n
rescued from transatlantic slavery? And uu
tiie answers you can give these questions,
must, in a great measure, I presume, depend
• tiie happiness of your lite, in framing them,
I how frequently must you be reminded ol the i
i remark of Mr. Grosvenor, is: one of the early ;
I debates upon the subject, which I believe you 1
have yourself recorded, “that he had twenty
■ objections to the abolition of the Slave Trade; •
i the first was, that it waS impossible— the rest ;
I iie need not give.” Gun you sty to yourself,
i or to the world, that thejirs/ objection of Mr. i
; Grcs-.en->r has been yet confuted? Itwases- |
; timuted, at the commencement ofyour agita- ,
lion in 1787, that forty-five thousand .Africans
i were annually transported to American and <
: the West Indies. And tire mortality of the
.Middle Passage, computed by some at 5, is !
now admitted not to Lave exceeded 9 per '
■ cent. Notwithstanding your act of Parka- I
mem, the previous abolition by the United
Stales, and that ail the powers in the world
; have subsequently prohibited this trade—
some of the greatest of them declaring it. pi-
: racy and covering the African seas with ;
I armed vessels to prevent it.—Sir Thomas ;
■ Fovvel Buxton, a coadjutor of y^mrs,declared,
in 1840, that the number of Africans now an- ;
niiallv sold into slavery beyond the sea,
amounts, at the very least, to one hundred
and fifty thousand souls; while the mortality \ 1
of the .Middle Passage, has increased, in con
sequence of the measures taken to suppress '
the trade, to 25 or 30 per cent. And of the\ ■
one hundred and fitly thousand slaves who ■ 1
have been captured and liberated by British ;
men of war since the passage of your Act,;
Judge Jay, an American Abolitionist, asserts ;
that, one hundred thousand, or two-thirds, 1
j have perished between their capture and lib
’ eration. Does it not really seem that Mr.
i Grosvenor was a.. Prophet? That though
nearly all the “impossibilities” of 1787 have
i vaninished, and become as familiar facts as
; our household customs, under the magic in
; fluence of Steam, Colton, and universal
j peace, yet this wonderful prophecy still 1
; stands,defying time and the energy and genius
jot mankind. Thousands of valuable lives
: and fifty millions of pounds sterling Lave .
; been thrown away by your Government i-n ;
• fruitless attempts to overturn it. -I hope you
I have not lived too long for your own happi- '
ness, though you has been spared to see that 1
in spite of your toil and those of your fellow ■
' laborers, and the accomplishment of all that
human agency could do, the .African Slave ■
I Trade has increased three-fold under yyur
; own eyes—more rapidly, perhaps, than any i
; other ancient branch of commerce—and that ;
I your efforts to suppress it have effected noth- I
; ing more than a three-fold increase of its hor- !
; rors. There is a God that rules the world— i
; All powerful!—Far seeing: He does not per-1
i mit His creatures to foil His designs. It is
■ He who, for His allwise, though lo us often |
I inscrutable purposes, throws ‘firepossibilities” j
in the way of our fondest hopes and most ;
! strenuous exertions. Can you doubt this?
Experience having settled the point, that■
' this Trade cannoi be abolished by the use. <f \
1 force, and that blockading squadrons serve j
i onLv io make it more profitable and more cruel,;
I am surprised that the attempt is persisted
; in, unless it serves as a cloak to some other i
purposes. It would be far better than it now’
is, for the African, if the trade was free from
' all restrictions, and left to the mitigation and
; decay which time and competition would sure
jly bring about. If kidnopping, both secretly
! and by war made for that perpose, could be
I by any means prevented in Africa, the next
' greatest blessing you could bestow upon that
' country w OuJd be to transport its actual slaves
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JUNE 2S, 1815.
in comfortable vessels across the Atlantic.—
Though they might be perpetual bondsmen,
still, they would emerge from darkness into
s light—from barbarism to civilization —from
idolatry to Christianity—-in short from death
• to life.
But let us leave the African slave trade,
which has so signally defeated the Philan
thropy of the world, and turn to
slavery, to which you have now directed your
attention, and against which a crusade has
been preached as enthusiastic and ferocious
I as that of Peter the Hermit —destined, 1 be
: lieve, to be a boat as successful. And here
let me say, there, is not a vast difference be
i tween the two, though you uiay not acknowl
edge it. 'l’he wisdom of ages lias concurred
: in the justice and expediency ot establishing
| rights bv prescriptive use, however tortious j
;in their origin they may have been. \ou
wtmld deem a. man insane whose Keen sense
of equity would’ lead him to denounce your
right .to’the lands you hold, and which per
ii.Tps you inherited from a long line of anc.es-'
try, because your title was derivrd from a
; Saxon or Norman conqueror, and vour lands
; were originally wrested by from the
: vanquished Britons. And so 'j.M®fcbc- New
England Abolitionist who
I would insist that he should rflßcWhis farm 1
. to the descendants of the slaughtered Red !
■ men to whom God had as it as
: he gave life and freedom to tiie kidnapped
! African. That time ‘does -not conseerrte '
' wrong, is a fallacy which all history exposes; 1
I and which the best and wisest all ages I
; and professions'uf religious iaith have denied.
I Tue means, therefore, whatever they may
! have been, by which the African race now ;
im this country have been reduced to slavery,
cannot affect us, since they areonr propertv, I
! as your land is yours, by mheritence or per- ■
! chase and prescriptive right. You will say
that man cannot held property in man. The
answer is, •that he can and aeltia'ly does hold i
i property in his fellow all the world over, in a
variety of forms, and has always done so. I
l will show presently his authority for doing it.
If you were to ask me whether I was an i
advocate of slavery in the abstract, 1 should !
probably answer that 1 am not, according to 1 1
i my I'liderstauding of the question. Ido not I
j like to deal in abstractions. It seldom leads 1
j to any useful ends. 'There are few universal
; truths. 1 do not now remember any sinole
mural truth universally acknowledged. We ‘
\ have no assurance that it is given to our finite
understanding to comprehend abstract moral 1
truth. Apart from Revelation and the In- I
spired Writings, what idea should we have ; 1
even of God, Salvation and Immortality?— J 1
Let the Heathen, answer. Justice itself is: l
impalpable as an abstraction, and abstract ■ (
liberty the merest phantasy that ever amused >
; the imagination. This world was made for I *
man, and man lor the world us it is. Our- 1
selves, oe.r relatkms with one another and I !
with all matter are real, not ideal. I ini-riw ' '
say that I am no more in favor of slavery in : 1
the abstract, than I am of poverty, disease,' I
deformity, idiocy, or any oilier mequalitv in ! '
the condi kjh of the human family, that I’love I !
perfection, and think 1 should enjoy a M.ille- 1
nium such as God has promised. But what i ‘
would it amount to? A pledge that. 1 would ! <
join you to set about eradicating those appa- ■ '■
reutly inevitable evils e-f out nature, in equal!- j i
z:ng the condition <»i all mankind, rimstimma-! 1
ting the perfection of ou r race, and introdu-| 1
ciug tiie Tu el- ■'
Higher Power. And it would be v.eVl terr W 9 1 !
to leave the Almighty to periect His uvvn <
works and fulfil his own Covenants. Especi- : ’
ally, as the history of ah the past shows how . 1
entirely furtile all human efforts have proved, • !
when in ide for the purpose of aidisg Him in :
! carry ing out even his revealed designs, and I 1
how invariably he lias accomplished them by ; 1
unconscious instruments, and in the face ol i 1
human expectation. Nay, more, that very i 1
; attempt wh ch has been made by fallible I ■
man to extort from the world obedience to his I 1
: “abstract” not ons of right and wrong, has 1 1
been invariably attended wilh calamities, ’
dire, and extended just in proportion to the ;
breadth and vigor of the improvement. On
slavery in the abstract, then, it. would not bt: !
amiss to have as little as possible to say. Let j
us contemplate it as it is. And thus con-j
templating it, the -first question we have to
ask ourselves is, whether it is contrary to the
Will of God, as revealed to us in Ills Holy ■
Scriptures—the only certain means given ns j
to ascertain His will. If it is, then slavery is I
a sin. And I admit at once that every man
is bound to set ids face against it, and to
emancipate his slave should he hold any.
Let us open these Holy Scriptures. In the ;
20th cliapier of Exodus, seventeenth verse, I ,
find the following words: “ i'b.ou shall not ■
covet thy neighbor’s house, thoushalt not co- ;
vet thy neighbor's wife, tier his man servant, ’
tier his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, |
nor any tiling that is thy neighbor s”—which ■
is the Tenth of those commandments that de- ;
clare the essential principles of the great [
moral law delivered to Moses by God himself. ;
Now, discarding all technical and verbal
quibbling as wholly unworthy to be used in ;
interpreting the Word of God, what is the ;
plain meaning, undoubted intent, and true I
spirit of ibis commandment?’ Does it not ■
emphatically and explicitly forbid you to dis-,
turb your neighbor in the enjoyment of his ;
property; and more especially of that which
is here specifically mentioned as being law-!
fully and by thi< commandment, made sacred
ly his? Prominent in the catalogue stands
his ’‘man servant and maid servißtt,” who are
thus distinctly coisccrated as h/
guarantied lo him for his exchit ’benefit in
the most solemn manner. Yea .ffmpt to;
avert the otherwise irresistible’darnel usion 1
that slavery was thus ordained by God, by de- I
daring that the word “slave” is not used here, 1
and is not to be found in the Bible. And 1 ;
have seen many learned dissertations on this '
point from abolition pens. It is well known I
that both the Hebrew and the Greek words !
translated “servant” in the Scripture, mean [
also and most usually “slave.” The use of |
the one word instead of the other was a mere I
matter of taste with the translators of the Bi
ble, as it has been with all the commentators
and religious writers, the latter of whom have,
1 believe., for the most part, adopted the term
“slave,” or used both terms indiscriminately.
If then, these Hebrew and Greek words in- ;
elude the idea of both systems of servitude, ;
I the conditional and unconditional, they should I
; as the major includes the minor propositions, '
jbe always translated “slaves” unless the
I sense ot the whole text forbids M. The rreul
j question, then is, what idea is intended to be
j conveyed by the words used in thecommand
' merit quoted? And it is clear to my mind
I that us no limitation is affixed to them, and
I the express intention was 10-secure to man
kind the .peaceful enjoyment of every species
! of property, that the terms Men-servants a-nd j
i Maid-servants include all classes of servants, i
; and establish a lawful,exclusive and indefea-;
; sible interest equally in the ‘•Hebrew Brother ;
; who shall go out in the seventh year and “the
! year iy hired servant,” and those “purchased
from the heathen round about,” who were to
be "Bond-men forever,” as the property of
their sellout man. You cannot deny lhat there
were amuog the Hebrews “Bond-men forev
er.”
You cannot deny that God especially au
thorised his chosen people to purchase “Bond-
men forever” from the heathen, as recorded
><i the 25th chapter of Leviticus, and that
they are there designated by the very Hebrew
word used in the Tenth commandment. Nor
car. you deny that a • Bond-rnan it. re ver” is a
‘slave;” yet you endeavor to hang Ri. argu
ment of immortal conseqnerrce upon the
wretched sutneriuge, that the. precise word
l a o e ”i * S o<>t 10 . * je loun d in ts e translation of
ti e Bible. As if the translators canoni
cal expounders of the Holy Scriptures, and
t.ieir words i.ot God's meaning, must be re
garded as His Revelation. •
It is vain to look to Christ or any of his
Apostles to justify such blasphemous perver
sions ot the word of God. Although slavery
in its most revolting form was every where
visible around thefc, no visionary tfetiuns of
I piety or philanthropy ever tempted them to
gainsay the law, even to mitigate the cruel
severity of the existing system. On the con
trary, regarding slavery as an established as
well as inecitable condition of htunan so
ciety, they never hinted at such a thing us its
termination on earth, any mure .than that
“the poor may cease out of the hind,” which
God affirms <q -Loses shall ueveV be:, and they
exhort al) "servants under the yoke” to “count
their ma.-te s as worthy of ail honor;” ‘no
obey tliom in all t.hmgs accotdingto theflesb;
not. with eye service as men pleases, but in
#i»gleness of heart, fearing (rod :” “not only
■ and gentle, but also the froward.;”
“for what glory is it if when ye are bufl’etted
for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but
il wne.n ye do we.l and suffer tor it, vet. take
it patiently, this is acceptable'bf God.” S'.
1 au> actually apprehended a runaway slave
and sent, him to hrs master. Instead of deri
ving from the Gospel any sanction for the
work you have tindertaken,it would be difficult i
to imagine sentiments and conduct more !
strikingly in contrast than those es the Apos- 1
liesand the Abolitionists.
It rs impossible therefore to suppose that ■
slavery is contrary to the will of God. it is ,
equally absurd to say that American slavery
dillers in form or principle from that of the ;
chosen people. lie accept the HibLe. terms as i
the definition of our si.leery, and its precepts,
as the guide of our conduct. We desire nothing
more. Even the right to “buffet,” which is
estimated so shocking, finds its express license '
in the gospel. 1 Peter ii. 20. Nay. .vliut is |
more, God directs the Hebrews to “Lore holes
in the ears of their brothers” to mark them, |
when under certa'i-u circumstances they be- I
come perpetual slaces: Ex. xxi. (}.
I think, then, I may safely conclude, and I
firnuy believe, Jiat the American slavery ■
is not only not a sin, bn especially command- :
ed by God through Moses, and approved by
■'Jurist through his apostles. And here 1 might ‘
close its defence; for what God ordains and
Christ sanctifies should surely command the !
r sped and toleration of man. i.ut I fear;
there has grown up in our time a Transcen- I
dental Religion which is throwing even Tran- I
sceiftiental Philosophy into tiie shade—a Re
ligion too pure and elevated for the Bible; I
which seeks to erect among men a higher !
standard of Alorals than the Almighty lias
revealed or our Saviour preached, and which
is probably destined to do more to impede the
exlension of God s Kingdom on tiarlh than 1
all the Infidels who have ever lived. Error i
is error.—lt is as dangerous to deviate to the j
righthand as the felt. And when men pro-!
fess-iirg to be holy men, who are by numbers
s<> regarded, declare those things to be .sinful ;
Mtia uisUili'leU, tinsy u<» inure io uusiiUy |
authority among mankind than the most ■
wicked can effect, by prearfiing that to be in- j
nocent wmeh lie has forbidden. To this '
sell-righteous and self-exalted class belong I
all the Abolitionists whose writings I have I
read. With them it is no end of the argu
ment to prove your propositions by the text of i
the Bible, interpreted according to its plain I
and palpable meaning and as understood by ‘
all mankind for three thousand years before
their time. They are more ingenious at con
struing and interpolating to accommodate it
to their new-fangled and etherial code of;
morals, than ever were Voltaire or Hume in :
picking it to pieces to free the world flora i
what they considered a delusion. When the I
Aboliti.-'ii.-'t proclaim “man stealing” to be a •
sin, and show me. that it is so written down I
by God,l admit them tw be right, and shod- j
der at the idea cl such-a crime.—But. when I I
show them that to hold "bond men for ever” I
is ord lined by God, they deny the Bible, a id ’
set up in. its pl tee a L i.r if their eten making, i
I must theti cease to reason with them on
this branch ot the question. Our religion ‘
differs as widely as our uianiiers. 'i’he Great
Judge iirour day ol iitia! account must decide
bet ween us.
Turning from the consideration of slave
holding, in its relations lo man as an accoun
table being, let us examine it in its influence
on his po.itical and social state. Though
being foreigners to us, you are in no wise en
titled to interfere with the civil institutions of
this country, it has become quite common for
your countrymen to decry slavery as an
enormous political evil to us, and even to de
clare that our Northern States ought to with
draw from the Confederacy rather than con
tinue to be contaminated by it. The Ameri
can abolitionists appear to concur fully in
tnese sentiments, and a portion at least of
them are incessantly threatening to dissolve
the Union. Nor should Ibe at all surprised
ii they succeed. It would not be difficult, in
my opinion, to conjecture which region, the
North or Smith, would Stiffler most bv such
an event. For one 1 should not object bv
any means, my lot iii a confederacy of
States whose citizens might all ba slavehold
ers. 1 indorse without reserve, the much
abused sentiment of Gov. M’Dutlie, that
“slavery is the corner stone of our Republican
edifice;” while 1 repudiate as ridiculously
absiired, that much lauded but no where ac
credited dogma of Mr. Jefferson, that “all
men are born equal.” No society has ever
yet existed, and 1 have already incidentally
quoted the highest authority to show that none
ever will exist without, natural variety of
classes. The most marked of these must, in
a country like ours, be the rich and the poor,
the educated and the ignorant. It will scarce
ly be disputed that the very poor have less
leisure to prepare themselves lor the proper
discharge of public duties than the rich; and
that the ignorant are wholly unfit for them at
all. In all countries save ours these two
classes, or the poor rather, who are presumed
lo be necessarily ignorant, are by law, express
ly excluded from ah participation in the man
agement of public afiairs. In a Republican
Government this cannot be done. Universal
suffrage, though not essential in theory,
seems lo be in fact a necessary appendage to
a Republican system. Where universal suf
frage obtains it is obvious that the govern
ment is in tint hands of a nmncrci.il majority;
and it is hardly necessary to say that in
every part of the world more than half the
people are ignorant and poor, 'rhuugh no or.e
can look noon poverty as a crime, and we do
not generally here regard it as any objection
to a man in his individual capacity, still it
must be admitted that it is a wretched and
insecure government which is administered
by its most ignorant citizens, and those who
have the least at stake under it. Though in
telligence and wealth havo great influenco
here as every where in keeping in check
reckless and unenlightened numbers, yet it is
I evident to close observers, if not to all, that
i these are rapidly usurping all power in the
; r.on-slaveholding' States, and threaten a feur
| ful crisis in Republican Institutions there at
j no remote period. In the slave-holding States,
■ however, nearly one half of the whole popu
; iafiorfe and those the poorest and Hiost ignor-
I ant, Lave no political influence whatever, be-
caU< they --ire slaves. Os the other half a
large pfi.portii'u are both-educated and inde
pendent inti'.eir circumstances, while those
who unfortunately are not so, being still ele
; vated far above the u.’ <ss. are higher toned
I and more deeply interest, d in preserving a
I stable and we!! ordered GiH>..-m' r ’-enr, than the
; same class in any other Hence,
• slavery is truly the “cortier stone” and
■ dation of every well designed and duruL.fe
I “Republican edifice.”
\vith usevery citizen is concerned in th?
j maintain a Lee of order, and in promoting hon
esty and industry arnona those <»f the fewest
class who are our slaves; and our habitual
vigilance renders standing armies, whether
; o; ooldiers oT Policemen, entirely unneces-
• sury. Small guards in our cities, and occa
: cas orial palro's in rhe country, ensure us
a repose and security known no where else.
:Vm camr.)'. be icnoi-.uit t.iiat, excepting the
. Lmted States, there is no counirv in the
. world wuose isxisiing Government would not
; tie overturned in a month, but tor its staud
i ing armies, maintained at an enormous and
• destructive cost to-those whom they are des
; lined to overawe—so rampant and combative
■ is the spirit of discontent wherever nominal
Free labor prevails, with its ostensive privile-
i ges ami its dismal servitude. Nor will it
belong before the" Free 'Slates r of ide Union
be compelled to int roduce the same expensive
machinery to preserve order among their
’ > l'i'e and equa l ” citizens. Already has Phifa- j
delphia organized a permanent Battalion for
this purpose, Ne w York, Boston and Cincia-!
nati will soon foliotv her example; and then j
the smai.er towns and densely populated !
counties. '1 he intervention of their militia to
repress violations ;.l th.? peace is becoming a i
daily avaatr. A strong Government, after j
some ol Jne o-d lushions—though probaßlv
with a new by the force o’s |
aimed mercenaries, is the ultimate destinv of I
the non elaveholding section of the cooled- i
eraoy, and one which may nut be very di.-taut. I
It is a great mistake to supnose, as is t>eti- '
erally done abroad, that in case of war slavery ‘
froiild be a source weakness. It did aot'
weaken Rome, nor Athens, tiou-Spartaghough !
their slaves were comparatively far more n° - I
morons than ours, of the same co.or h.r the |
most part with themselves, and large numbers
oi them familiar with the u-e of arms. I '
have no apprehension that our slaves would!
seize such an opportunity to revolt. The’
present generation of them, born among us, 1
would never thinkofsuch a thing at any tune’,
unless instigated to it by others. Against
such itistigations we are on our guard. Ju I
time ot war we shutild be more watchful and I
better prepared to put down insurrections than !
at any other periods. Should any foreign na- !
lion be so lost, to every sentiment of civilized ;
humairify as to attempt to erect among us the I
standard of revolt, or to invade us with Black ;
I mops for the base and barbarous purpose!
el stirring up servile war, their efforts would !
be signally rebuked. Our slaves could not!
ue easily seduced, nor would any thitmffe-i
light them more than to assist in stripping I
Ci. Ute ol his regimentals to put him in the i
IT -a* |-
•apprenf iceship. If, asTsitn siitisiTea woiiTin
be the case, our slaves remained peacefully |
on our plantations, and cultivated them in.
lame of war under iiie superintendence of a i
limited number of our citizens, it is obvious i
that we could put forth more strength in such !
an emergency, at less sacrifices, than any ;
other people of the same numbers. And I
thus we should in every point of view, “out |
oi tins uettie daiicer, placn tiie flower safely 1 |
How far slavery may be an advantage'or |
disadvantage to those not owning- slaves, yet'
united with us in political association, is a !
question tor tneir sole cunsiiieraiion. It is !
true that our representation in Congress is
iiic-cuscu fiy it; eat so are i-ttr taxe.-; a.id the
mm slave holdmg Stales, being the majority, ;
divide amontr themselves lar rlie.greater por- '
lion oi the amount levied bv’ the Federal
(tovernrneiit, and I doubt not that when it I
comes to a dose calcularion, ihcy will not be ;
slow ill finding out. tb it the balance of profit. ;
arising from the cunuectii,:’ is vastly in their
favor.
Li asocial point of view, the aholitimtists
pronounce slavery to be a monstrous evil.— 1
It it was so, it would be our own peculiar
concern, and superfluous benevolence in tliem
to lament over it. Seeing their b tter hostili
ty to us, however, they might leave us to cope
with our own calamities, but they make war
upon us out. of excess of charity, and attempt
to purify us by covering us with calumny.—
You have read and assisted to circulate a
great deal about abrays, duels and tnurdets
occurring here, and .ill aitubuted to the terrfe
hie demoralization of slavery. Not a single
event ol this sort takes place among u-, but
it is caught up by the abolitionists and pa
raded over the world with endless comments,
variations and exaggen.lions. You should
not. take what readies you as a mere sample,
and infer that, there is a vast deal more that
you never hear. You hear al), and mure than
all, the truth.
It is true that the point of honor is recog
nized throughout the slave region, and that
disputes ol certain classes are frequently re- i
ferretl for adjustment to the “trial by combat.” i
it would not be appropriate for me to enter, I
in tnis leltes, ititoa Ji'ience of the practice of;
duelling, nor to maintain al length that it I
does not tarnish the character of a people to j
acknowledge a standard of honor. Whatever
evils may arise from them, however, they can
not be attributed to slavery, since the same |
notion and custom prevails both in France ;
mid England. Few of your Prime Ministers,!
of the last half centnary even, have escaped
the contagion, 1 believe. 'i'he afi’ray.s, of
which so much is said, and in w hich rifles,
biivvie knives and pistols are so prominent,
i cciir mostly in the frontfer Stales of the
South West. They are natually incidental
lo the condition of society as exists in many
sections of these recently settled countries,
and will as naturally cease in due time.—
Adventurers Horn the older Stales and from
Europe, as desperate in character as they are
in Imiime, congregate in-these wild regions,
jostling one another, and often forcing the
peaceable and honest into recontres in self
defence. Slavery has nothing to do with
these things, fetabilily and peace are tiie
first, ifesires of every slave bolder, and the
true tendency of the system. It could not
possibly exist amid the eternal anarchy and
civil broils of the ancient Spanish dominions
in America, and for this very reason domes
tic slavery has ceased there. So far from
encouraging strife, such scenes of riot and
bloodshed as have within tiie last few years
disgraced our Northern cities, and as you
j have lately witnessed in Birningham, and
; Bristol, and Wales, not only never has occur
red, but 1 wiil venture to say never wiil oc
cur in our slave holding States. Tiie only
thing«that can create a mob (as you might
call it) here, is the appearance ot an aboli
tionist, whom the people assemble to chastise,
and this is no more of a mob than a rally of
VOL. XXIII.—NEW SERIES.—NO. 2
i shepherds to chase a wolf out of thir pastures
I would ee one.
I But we are swindlers and repudiatorsl—
I 1 enrisylvuma is not a slave State. A ina
; jority oi tue • tales which have failed to meet
, their obligations punctually are non slave
, holdmg; and two thirds of the debts said to be
repudiated is owned by these States. Many
iff the States of this Union are heavily en
ciiin iered with debt—none so hopelessly as
England. Pennsylvania owes $22 for each
mhnbitimt—England .§222, counting her pau-
> pers in. Nor has there been anv repudiation
I definite and final, of a lawful debt, that lam
j aware of. A few States have failed to pay
: some instalments nfmtleest The extraordi-
■ nary financial difficulties which occurred a
; few years ago account for it. Time-wifi set
. all things right attain. Every dollar of both
, principal and interest owed by any State,
t Nurth or South, vyill be ultimately paid, un
; less tn.c abolition of slavery overwhelms us all
|in one common ruin. But have no other nsi
: tions failed h: nay? When were the freridi
i Assignats redeemed? How much interest
I did your National ri.tnk pay on ns immense
I circulation, from 1797 to 1821, during which
period that circulation was inconvertible, and
> lor the lime repudiated!. How much of your
National Debt has been incurred for mutiev
bo: rowed to meet tLe interest on it. tiius
, avoiding delinquency ni detail, by
inevitable bankruptcy and repudiation in the
; end? And what sort of operation was that
ty which your pre.-ent Ministry recently ex
punged a handaome amount of that debt by
substituting, through a process j'tisl not com
pulsory, one species <st security lor another?
; 1 am well aware the faults oi others do not
excuse our own, but when failingsare charg
ed to slavery, vvmch are shown to occur To
equal extent where it does nut exist, surely
slavery must be acquitted of the accusatiau.
It is roundly asserted that we are not so
wed educated nor so religious here as else
where. 1 will not go into tedious statistical
statements on these subjects. Nor have Ij
to tell the truth, much confidence in the de
tails ot what are commonly set forth as statis
tics. As to education, vou will probably
admit, that slaveholders should have more
feisure for ment..l culture than most people.
And 1 beheve it is charged against them that
they are peculiarly fond of power, and ambi
tious honors, if this be su, as all the powers
and honors Ol this country are won mainly by
inleiieciu.il superiority, it might be fairly
presumed that slaveholders would not Le ne« r
lected o( •ediK’.a'ion. In proof of the accura
cy ol this presuniptioh 1 point you to the facts,
that our Presidential chair has been occupied
lor forty iliuYwut of fifty six years by slave
hoaiers; that another has been recently elect
ed to flit it for four more, over an opponent
who was a slaveholder also; and then in the
federal Otiices and both Houses of Congress
considerably more than a due proportion of
those ackiievviedged to stand in the first rank
are ironi the iSo.iih. In this arena the intel
lects ul the free and Slave States meet in
lull and Imr competition. .Nature must have
been unusually bountiful to us, or we have
been at least reasonably assiduous in the cul
tivation of suce gifts as slie has bestowed—
unless indee’d you refer our superiority to
moral qualities, which 1 an. sure you will not.
axore wealthy tve are net; nur would mere
wealth avail in such rivalry.
Ihe piety ol the South is unobtrusive.—
\Ved.hujk it proves but little. ThoffWit a
If vociferation is to carry life question of Re
ligion, tiie North and ■probably ike Scotch
have it. Our sects are few, harmonious;
pretty much united among tiieifeelves, and
pursue their vocations in humble peace. Iti
fact, our professors of Religion seem to think
—whether correctly or not—that it is their
duty ‘ to do good in secre<.” and to carry their
holy comforts to the heart of each individual,
without reference lo class or color, for his
special enjoyment, and not with a view to ex
hibit their keal before the World. So farois
numbers are concerned, I believe our clergy
men, when called on to make a showing, have
never had occasion to blush, if comparisons
were drawn between the free and slave
States. And although our presses do not
team with controversial pamphlets, nor our
pulpits shake with excoimtHKiicatirig thun
ders, the daily walk of our religious commu
nicants furnishes apparently as little 'bod for
gossip as is to be found in most other religions.
It may be regarded as a mark of our want of
excitability—though that is a quality acerdit
j cd to us in an eminent degree—that few of
: the remarkable religious Isms of the present
day have taken root among us. We have
been so irreverent as to laugh at Mormonism
anti Milierism, which have created suchwtn
motiuMs farllier North; and Modern Propheta
! is-tve no honor in our country. Shakers,
l Rappists, Dunkers, Socialists, Fourriensts
I and the like keep themselves alar off. Even
Piisevistn has not yet moved us. Yon may
attribute this to our Domestic Slavery if you
; chose. I believe you would do so justly.—
! There is no material here for such characters
; to operate upon.
But your grand charge is that licentious
ness in intercourse between the sexes is a
prominent trr.it of our socit I system, and that
it necessarily arises from slavery. 'Flu's is a
favorite theme with the Abo i’ionists; rhale
and female. Folios have been written on it.
It is a common observation, that there is no
suhjeetoiiwhic.h ladies of eminent virtue so
much delight to dwell, ard on winch in espe
! cial learned old maids, like Miss Mur ineau
I linger with such an insatiable relish. They
expose it in the Slave States with the mbet
minute observance and endless rferafion.—
i Miss .Martineau, with peculiar gust relates a
series of scandalous stories which would have
■ made Borcacio jealous of her pen. but which
! are so ridiculously false ns to lente no doubt
; lhat some wicked wag, knowing siie would
write a book has furnished her materials—a
: gam? too often played on Tourists in this
■ country. The conslai t recurrence <»f the
j female Abolitionists to this topic, and their
bitterness in regard to it cannot fail V> fiig-
I gest to even the most chari'able mind, that
"Such rage without betrays the fires within.”
Nor are their immaculate coadjutors of the
I other sex, though perhaps less specific in
I their charges, less violent, in their denuncia-
I lions. But recently in vour Island, a clergy
i man has, nt a public meeting,stigmatized the
I whole slave region as a “Brothel.” Do these
people lims cast stones being “without ein”?
! Or do they only
“Conipound for sins they are, inclined to,
By damning those they have no mind to.”
, Alas that David and Solomon should be al
; lowed to repose in peace—that Leo should l e
■ almost canonized, and Luther more than
sainted—tliat in our ovvn day enurtezms
should be formally licensed in Paris; and
tenements in London rented for years to wo
men of the town tor the benefit us the Church
with the knowledge ct the Bishop—and the
poor Slave Slates of America a'one pounced
I upon and offered up as a holocaust on tiie
j Altar of Imnaaculateness to atone sos the
abuse of natural instinct by all mankind; and
if not actually consumed, at feast exposed,
anathematized and helel up to scorn, by those
who
“writ*
“Or with a. Rival’s or an Eunuch's spite.”
[CONTINUED on second tags.]