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AN INQUIRY, ETC.
AN INftUIRY
INTO
THE CONDITION AND PROSPECTS
OF THE
AFRICAN RACE
IN THE
Hmtrtr Start**:
AND
THE MEANS OF BETTERING ITS FORTUNES.
" Indignantly frown upon the first dawning of every attempt to alien any
portion of our country from the rest."— George Washington.
BY AN AMERICAN.
PHILADELPHIA:
HASWELL, BARRINGTON, AND HASWELL.
1839.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by
Ha swell, Barrington, and Has well, in the Clerk's Office of
the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
CONTENTS.
Introduction ...... page 13
CHAPTER I
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
I. Why first appeal to Abolitionists — result of their measures
doubtful. — Writer, once an abolitionist — how cured.
II. Ultraism of the present day — in theology — and benevolence.
III. Writer's views of slavery — caused by man's depravity — no
remedy but Christianity — moral influence of our national pros-
perity.— Coronation of England's queen — Dr. Franklin.
IV. Circumstances in which slavery may be a blessing — theory
and practice of abolitionists inconsistent — reference to St. Paul
— objections to holding slaves.
8
CONTENTS.
V. Action and measures of abolitionists, why wrong — abolition
periodicals — Mr. Garrison — editor in New York— should be
judged charitably.
VI. Slaveholders' ideas of abolitionists — why — many slave-owners
anxious to get rid of slavery — what abolitionists ought to have
done — arguments not admitted — abolitionists seriously ques-
tioned.
VII. Abolition in District of Columbia opposed — why 1 p. 21
CHAPTER II.
APPEAL TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
L Design of the writer. Slaveholders and abolitionists ignorant
of each other.
II. Character of abolitionists misunderstood — enthusiasts — in-
creased by opposition — many of them well-meaning men.
III. Slavery, general view — negroes human beings, capable of
improvement.
IV. Power of the master — slaveholders interrogated. Fearful
responsibility in holding human beings as slaves.
V. The Bible on that responsibility.
VI. Brief survey of practical slavery — moral aspect — ignorance
— dishonesty, facts in proof— licentiousness, slaveholders aware
of the evil.
CONTENTS.
9
VII. Iniiuence of slavery on individuals — character of slaves —
their influence on masters — on poor white men.
VIII. Influence of slavery on national prosperity — monopoly of
cotton — southern system not favourable to improvement —
comparison with imperial Rome — with Peru and Mexico.
IX. Abetter system, recommended to the South. Question of
moral right will be agitated among slaveholders.
X. Slaveholders plead that a manufacturing country makes actual
slaves — some weight in the plea — radical difference. Southern
states should depend on agriculture. " Plan " of independence
considered.
XI. Views of the North on slavery — tendency of abolition —
ridiculous action among some northern manufacturers.
XII. Dissolution of Union threatened — its preservation urged upon
the South. North not inimical to the South.
XIII. The probable result of the controversy. Influence of British
emancipation. Modern slavery compared with Roman and
Grecian. Conclusion p. 63
CHAPTER III.
TO THE FREE STATES.
I. Free and slave states diametrically opposed — what influence
this should exert on the former — why oppose the spirit of abo-
lition— how the South may be reached.
10
CONTENTS.
II. Why slaveholders should be judged charitably — and the sub-
ject investigated — northern ministers appealed to — northern
men at the South — severe taskmasters — why.
III. Power of habit, the stronghold of slavery, influence of filial
and venerable associations among slaveholders — opposed to
unconditional emancipation — why.
IV. Universal conviction of the right of property. — Value of
slaves. — Ignorance of northern men respecting slavery.
V. Condition of the slave — observations of the writer — house
servants many advantages — field labourers — negro houses —
bad — mode of feeding slaves — various resources among them
— public opinion in favour of humanity — dress of slaves —
personal treatment — mode of labour — general appearance and
manners — many of them in places of trust — general views of
the whites — influence of the age on the slave.
VI. Free blacks of the South — situation unfavourable to improve-
ment— interesting exceptions.
VII. Condition of the free blacks at the North — anecdote — de-
graded— outcasts — vicious — neglected by the whites — deep-
rooted prejudice against them — proofs — what justice requires
of the free states. — North not guiltless respecting slavery —
what atonement for her own wrongs.
VIII. South devoted to the Union. — Interference of the North,
on the question of moral right — appeal to the free states —
to the clergy — examine motives — forbearance recommended
among equals — injurious effects of northern denunciation. —
Example of the Saviour. . . . . . p. 116
CONTENTS.
11
CHAPTER !Vr.
TO THE UNION.
I. What can be done 1 Subject of vast magnitude— radical
difference of opinion.
IL Three modes of settling the question stated.
III. Faint hope that either side will abandon its position — ultra
slaveholders — violence of southern excitement a favourable omen
— no prospect of the North becoming in favour of slavery — rea-
sons— will not use force against it.
IV. Dissolution of the Union considered — its probable conse-
quences and result.
V. Third mode of settling the question — by compromise and
concession — why it may be hoped for — desirable that southern
men should express their views — prevented by abolition move-
ments.
VI. Colonization recommended — abolitionists opposed — mista-
ken philanthropy — colonization emancipation must become a
national question. South will reject every other mode — urged
from motives of regard for the welfare of the coloured race — ne-
groes cannot rise to equality with the whites — proved in the free
states — in Philadelphia — slaves to remain in the country as hired
servants considered — South will oppose it, and why — no encour-
agement from the example of the North. British emancipation
referred to — final consequences not known.
VII. Why the coloured man should go to Africa — climate con-
sidered— comparisons invited — America owes it to Africa to send
12
CONTENTS.
back her children. God intends it by our prosperity — government
must do it — influences of colonization on Africa. Question of
expense alluded to — money lost in Florida war.
VIII. Some slave states have begun the work — reasons for
government interference — partizan politics, the curse of our coun-
try— the only hope of benevolence in the future. . p. 161
Conclusion .... .... p. 205
INTRODUCTION.
The story of Washington and the Declaration
of Independence are the first lessons treasured up
in the memory by American youth ; and one of
the first subjects on which the reasoning powers
are exerted, is an attempt to reconcile slavery with
the declaration that all men "are created free £,nd
equal," and " entitled to life, liberty, and the pur-
suit of happiness." The youth of ingenuous dispo-
sition, educated in the free states, in reflecting upon
this subject, early obtains a deep impression of the
fallibility and inconsistency of human character.
First, all men are free and equal; — secondly,
some of the men most distinguished in American
history were slaveholders, that is, bought and sold
their fellow-men like cattle ; — thirdly, among these
distinguished men, some (as the author of the
Declaration of Independence) condemned slavery
in the strongest terms of language while they lived,
and others, (as General Washington,) in their final
acts, cancelled the obligation of the slave, and gave
him freedom.
These reflections greatly puzzled the writer of
2
14
INTRODUCTION.
the following pages in his boyhood, and induced a
spirit of inquiry on the subject of American slavery,
which has increased with maturer age. In common
with the youth of the free states, he early imbibed
a strong prejudice against slavery, as being in-
compatible with the freedom of our government :
although this prejudice was subsequently somewhat
softened, by reflecting, that some of the men whom
Americans are taught from their childhood to
venerate as great and good, wTere slaveholders;
and also, by the consideration that the government,
in all its acts and subordinate departments, has,
(until very recently at least,) recognised the law-
fulness of slavery. There are multitudes, doubtless,
at the North, who will at once comprehend the
embarrassment of the writer at this period, by their
own experience ; — fully convinced of the wrong of
slavery as an abstract question, and yet not feeling
authorized to openly denounce it, under the cir-
cumstances in which it is tolerated in our country:
and it was not until the writer had mingled with
slavery, and observed its practical operation and
bearing upon the community, with a circumspection
prompted by the curiosity and unsatisfied inquiries
of twenty years' residence in the free sates, that he
was enabled to form an opinion of its merits, as it
exists in the United States — and also to see the
reason why great men had been engaged in it, and
why the people of the South so tenaciously adhered
to the practice. The result of these observations
is given in the following pages; and the writer
INTRODUCTION.
15
feels an anxious interest in the diffusion of inform-
ation on this subject at this time, for two reasons :
1st. A crisis is approaching. Every man of com-
mon observation must be aware of the fact, that
this subject — the moral and political influence of
slavery— has been increasing in public interest for
the last few years ; and there are evidently causes
at work, which will continue to increase this in-
terest, until public opinion shall be centred upon
it with a force, which can neither be evaded nor
repulsed. The rancor of a most bitter political strife
has for a time withdrawn public attention from it,
but the elements are yet in a state of commotion,
and only wait a favourable opportunity to burst
forth and overspread the whole horizon. And no
honest man can, in view of our national interests,
wish the settlement of this great question delayed.
If slavery is that grievous, heaven-daring oppres-
sion, which some of its opposers are clamorous in
denouncing, it should be speedily abolished ; if it
can be shown that the practice is consistent with
republicanism and Christianity, the slaveholder
should be relieved of that load of obloquy which
many now heap upon him, and be permitted to hold
his possession in peace.
I call the attention of southern men to this point.
Free discussion is the only method of eliciting light,
and establishing correct principles in this land of
liberty. We have here no absolute monarch to
think, and speak, and act for the people " by the
grace of God." Free discussion is not only the
INTRODUCTION.
prerogative but the genius of our people. It is
the great manufactory of public opinion, which is
the supreme law of the land. Every question,
whether of village or national notoriety, must be
submitted to it, and decided by it. It is as impos-
sible to prevent this as to stop water from running
down a declivity ; and the attempt to arrest the
progress of discussion on this great subject, if per-
sisted in, must lead to the most disastrous results.
A practice that will not bear investigation is always
liable to suspicion. If the South are determined
to resist every attempt to discuss and investigate
the merits of slavery, it will not only increase the
prejudice of its opposers, but the consequence will
be to produce rival orders of public opinion at the
North and South, diametrically opposed to each
other, and tending to cherish sectional and jarring
interests.
Without a free interchange of sentiment, there
cannot be such an enlightened understanding of
the subject as will lead to a righteous decision by
this people. Even now there are many anxious
minds labouring under an impression that slave-
holders are unwilling to bring the question of slavery
to a free and full discussion of its merits ; and this
impression is strengthened by the acts of the
national legislature. At both the sessions of the
twenty-fifth Congress, the House of Representa-
tives voted (after much animated and excited
debate) to reject all petitions, and to allow no dis-
cussion on the subject of slavery. This act is to
INTRODUCTION.
17
be regretted. Its policy is more than questionable :
it is unwise. It is like checking a current in its
natural channel : the accumulated waters may
be arrested for a time, but when the barrier gives
way — as it surely must. — the torrent will sweep
every thing in its -course. The calm which seems
to acquiesce in this act, is no evidence of its approval.
The fires are becoming more intense in the pent-up
volcano. On a subject not involving the safety of
the dearest interests of the community, a reflecting
people will yield an unwilling assent to the decision
of a large majority, and submit to the rejection of
their petitions, constitutionally expressed and of-
fered ; until the manifest justice of their cause, and
the exertions of its friends, have removed the op-
position to their wishes. This mode of rejecting
petitions is manifestly unjust — contrary to the spirit
and letter of the constitution — and can only be de-
fended on the ground that extreme exigences war-
rant the setting aside of established constitutional
provisions. The slaveholder pleads that the reckless
violence of the abolitionists has produced this
result, and no doubt this is true ; but whether the
ultimate decision of the country will sustain the
act, and thereby declare that the exigence required
the sacrifice, time only can determine. It cannot
be questioned that one effect of this act will be, a
stronger conviction among the people of the North,
that the South are inclined to shut up every avenue
to the investigation of slavery. And the final
consequences of such a conviction at the North, or
2*
18
INTRODUCTION.
such a determination at the South none can foresee,
but all must dread.
2d. The object of the writer is to diffuse infor-
mation on the subject among the popular ranks
of his countrymen.
Many books have been already written on both
sides of the question ; but they have generally been
elaborate treatises; on one side condemning slavery
on the abstract principles of moral right, or on
the other defending the practice, from the usages
of mankind in all ages ; or by denying and contro-
verting the opinions of their opponents. Such
works are but little suited to the popular taste, and
produce but little practical effect upon the body of
society. The great mass of the people, the owners
and cultivators of the soil, and the artizans — men
who acquire a proud independence by honest and
persevering toil — who are seldom concerned in
tumults or mobbish excesses, — and to whom dema-
gogues and enthusiasts generally preach in vain —
a class of men to stand by the laws in the hour of
peril, and which holds in check that spirit of insub-
ordination, which seems eager to destroy — these
are the men, who are to pronounce sentence upon
this momentous subject; and the sentence they
pronounce they will carry into execution. But
they will not decide this question, however enthu-
siasm may invoke, or uncurbed passion may
menace, until they have had opportunity to ascer-
tain facts, to hear evidence, and weigh the subject
in all its bearings. They constitute the supreme
INTRODUCTION.
19
court of the country, from whose decision there is
no appeal. These men have little knowledge of
Latin, or the logic of the schools, and little time to
study the elaborate productions of doctors of law
or metaphysics. With them a well-attested fact
is of more value than a cart load of suppositions;
and their assent is given to theory, when it is re-
duced to practice. They require no other wisdom
than that plain sense with which God has endowed
them — and which their observation and industry
keep in constant exercise and improvement — to
decide upon the most important subjects of na-
tional interest when fairly brought to their com-
prehension.
To this class of his fellow-countrymen, both
North and South, the writer addresses these pages,
without reference to politics, party, sect, or section.
They have an. unspeakable interest in this question ;
for it needs not the spirit of prophecy to foretell,
that unless it be amicably settled, a crisis is ap-
proaching, which will involve the whole country,
and come home to every man's bosom, from Maine
to the Sabine. Already the agitation is begun,
and a spirit is awakened which cannot be put to
rest, till a final verdict is rendered by the people.
Notwithstanding the magnitude of the subject, it is
becoming one of absorbing interest, and every man
in the nation must look it in the face.
To prepare the public to act understandingly, it
is important that information should be diffused.
Already, from ignorance of each other's circum-
20
INTRODUCTION.
stances, sectional animosity is gaining ground ;
and it will require all the wisdom which fallible
men can gain from moral obligation and experi-
ence, to arrest the current of sectional prejudice,
and decide the question in the spirit of equity,
and with reference to the great interests at stake.
That the great mass of the people are ignorant of
each other's situation, and sectional and domestic
customs, and therefore greatly liable to err in
judging of them, the writer is abundantly satisfied
from his own experience and views, before and
after witnessing the operation of slavery. Should
he be instrumental in directing this class of men to
a sober and righteous decision on this momentous
subject, his object will be attained. He has no
selfish motives to favor. His own individual sug-
gestions are alone responsible for this work. He
has consulted no man, and but few books. He
has no interests at stake, wThich will be involved
by the decision of this question, any farther than
as a single member of the community. The sub-
ject has been one of engrossing interest to him
ever since he came to years of manhood, and he
has watched the progress and development of
public sentiment with great solicitude. His humble
efforts are intended to direct it, in its inquiries, to a
sober and thorough investigation; to a just, and, if
possible, an amicable settlement of the momentous
controversy.
CHAPTER I.
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
I. Why first appeal to Abolitionists — result of their measures
doubtful. — Writer, once an abolitionist — how cured.
II. Ultraism of the present day — in theology — and benevolence.
III. Writer's views of slavery — caused by man's depravity — no
remedy but Christianity — moral influence of our national pros-
perity.— Coronation of England's queen — Dr. Franklin.
IV. Circumstances in which slavery may be a blessing — theory
and practice of abolitionists inconsistent — reference to St. Paul
— objections to holding slaves.
V. Action and measures of abolitionists, why wrong — abolition
periodicals — Mr. Garrison — editor in New York — should be
judged charitably.
VI. Slaveholders' ideas of abolitionists — why — many slave-owners
anxious to get rid of slavery — what abolitionists ought to have
done — arguments not admitted — abolitionists seriously ques-
tioned.
VII. Abolition in District of Columbia opposed — why ?
" One great principle which we should lay down as immovably
true, is, that if a good work cannot be carried on by the calm,
self-controlled, benevolent spirit of Christianity, then the time for
doing it has not come." Chanhtng.
I. As you had the honour or dishonour to begin
the modern agitation of that great question, which
has produced so much excitement in the country —
the immediate abolition of slavery — it seems very
22
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
proper, in taking a survey of the subject, and
showing the bearing it has upon the various sec-
tions of the country, and classes of the community,
to make the first appeal to you. You have declared
a war of extermination against slavery, and per-
sisted in your plans for accomplishing its overthrow,
with an ardour worthy of good men in a good
cause. Whether your efforts will result in the weal
or wo of your country is very problematical. The
principal reason to hope for the former, is, that
wiser and discreeter men may arise, to wield the
elements which your zeal has put in commotion.
Great occasions give being and impulse to great
energies, but the pioneers of a grand enterprise
are seldom the men to guide it to a successful issue.
In our own history, the prudence and deliberation
of Franklin and Washington directed the storm
which the enthusiasm and ardour of the Adamses
and Henrys kindled. Without such an interference
to check your headlong impetuousness, there is
little hope of the future. If your past action in
word and deed is to be the measure of your future
progress and effort, then the patriot can only rest
his hopes upon anticipations of what may be in the
dispensations of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, be-
yond the vision of erring and short-sighted mortals.
As one who claims an interest in the welfare of
his country, not exceeded by your own — one who
possesses the same freedom of opinion, and right
of discussion ; — as one having the same stake in the
issue, and accountable to the same tribunals here
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
23
and hereafter — I take the liberty to make such re-
marks upon your principles and measures, and
offer such views respecting their ultimate tendency,
as reflection and experience have suggested. In
doing this, I shall use great plainness of speech ;
thus, in one respect at least, following your own
example. But be assured, I have no sinister
designs to accomplish ; no feelings of enmity to gra-
tify ; and God forbid that I should cast any stum-
blingblock in the way, to impede the progress of
truth, justice, and benevolence.
I was once a decided abolitionist in feeling — one
of the " straitest sect." Looking on that side ex-
clusively, as most of you do, — absorbed in the con-
templation of the injustice and horrors of slavery,
but at the same ignorant of the system — I felt al-
most strong enough, in view of the abstract ques-
tion of right or wrong, to go forth, single-handed,
to silence every opposer, and break the fetters
from every slave in Christendom. A greater work
than Clarkson was twenty years in accomplishing,
I could have performed in about as many weeks.
Such is the ardour of an ingenuous disposition in
support of an exclusive idea, and just such is the
great body of your members. They have read
some abolition papers ; heard perhaps some anti-
slavery lectures, and become inflamed with a more
than patriotic ardour, in defence of the great doc-
trine of human rights. Their arguments are very
summary and conclusive. Slavery is wrong ; there-
fore every slaveholder ought to give his slaves instant
24
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
freedom ! If his next neighbour does not imme-
diately admit the conclusiveness of his reasoning,
the abolitionist marvels at his hardness of heart,
or obtusenessof intellect: if the slaveholder should
plead for time to consider the subject in view of
the circumstances in which he is placed, I fear the
spirit of modern abolition would equal the zeal of
the disciples, in wishing, on a certain occasion, to
call down fire from heaven.
The writer was led to serious reflection, and
ultimately cured of his abolition enthusiasm, long
before he ever saw a slave, by attending the anni-
versaries of the Anti-slavery and Colonization Soci-
eties in New York, four or five years ago. At the
meeting of the former, there was considerable
exultation manifested, that the latter was labouring
under great pecuniary embarrassment — one of the
speakers stating to the assembly, " We have met
here to sound the death-knell of colonization."
At the meeting of the Colonization Society the day
following, some wit was displayed, and no little
mirth excited among a very reverend auditory, by
alluding to the ocular proof present, that coloni-
zation was neither dead nor buried.
As a spectator the writer could not witness but
with painful feelings the malevolence of disposition
manifested by men claiming to be benevolent ; nor
could he but regret, that these two societies, having
the same ultimate object in view — the improvement
of the coloured race — should indulge in a bitterness of
invective, not allowable even in the fiercest sectarian
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
25
polemics. " Surely there is field enough for both
to labour without interfering with each other ; and
the narrow views which engender strife and con-
tention between them, can only be equalled by
that profound charity of ignorant religionists, which
will not permit an opponent to be in the way to
heaven, unless he follows in the dim ray of its own
little rushlight."
The scenes above mentioned gave the writer un-
favourable impressions respecting the motives of
abolitionists: since that, he has seen something of
slavery in its practical appearance, and is still
more unfavourably impressed with regard to their
measures. But even these are to be judged with
great allowances, except so far as they exert a
practical influence injurious to society, in view of
the spirit of the age.
II. Ultraism is the order of things at the present
day. Every thing runs into excess. " A sober
man, who can find !" The modern improvements
in the arts, and the discoveries in philosophy and
science, have given a kind of intoxicating impulse
to men's minds; and nothing short of the velocity
of steam power is sufficient to fill their enlarged
capacities. Excited action is the natural result of
extravagant speculation; and men, not satisfied
with pitying the benighted state and groping igno-
rance of their fathers, seem determined to make
them appear more diminutive by powerful con-
trast. The aged patriarch who jogs along the
3
26
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
road in an ancient vehicle, as his fathers did before
him, is rudely jostled by his flying grandchildren,
who measure his wisdom and judgment by the
motion of his wheels.
Theology has partaken of this spirit in a re-
markable degree. The old land-marks are broken
down or neglected, and new avenues are laid out
to Bunyan's " celestial city." Newlight reformers
have discovered that their plodding forefathers
entirely erred, in explaining the text of that old
guide book the Bible ; and the narrow, up-hill
path therein delineated has, in the plastic hands of
different reformers, been smoothed and Mc Adam-
ized ; or made wide enough for all to travel together.
The great change to be effected in man, may be
generally produced by joining " our side ;" that is
the only patent orthodoxy. The attentive observer
can almost hear the very language of worldly
rivalry, from these modern sectarians — " this way,
sir, safest and cheapest line, through by daylight."
Benevolence has also caught the same spirit,
and shows a determination to make amends for
the sluggish apathy of all former generations.
Let me not be understood as being opposed to
benevolent enterprize. Among the almost in-
numerable societies for improving the condition
of the human family, no doubt the most of them
are exerting a happy influence. There can be
no danger of circulating too many Bibles, or re-
ligious tracts, or Sunday-school books ; nor of em-
ploying too many devoted missionaries. There is
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
27
vice, and crime, and misery enough in the world,
to employ all the hands, and hearts, and means,
which Christian charity can call into action. But
there is a great amount of zeal on this subject
which is not according to knowledge. Among
the innumerable demands made on the public for
its aid in sustaining charitable and benevolent
operations, there is difficulty in deciding upon the
most worthy objects. The incessant call for giving,
has influenced manv to withhold altogether. And
there is evidently a spirit of competition excited
among some societies for public favour, and a
jealousy of each others success. But on this sub-
ject, as almost every other, enthusiasm has far
outstripped sober judgment. Men's minds have be-
come so absorbed in the contemplation of existing
evils, that they seem incapable of adopting the best
mode of removing them.
This I believe is true in regard to the subject
of slavery. Among the great objects of modern
benevolence, the slave receives, at the present
moment, an unusual share of commiseration. The
subject is indeed one of unspeakable interest, and
worthy the attention of every philanthropist; but
its very magnitude should teach us to approach it
with caution. Instead of this, a numerous class
appear bent upon deciding it in a summary man-
ner. The abolitionists have no idea of allowing
any circumstances to affect their belief or to
modify their measures. They have seized hold of
this, with an exclusiveness of purpose, as though
28
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
it were the only sin of the age, and, in their zeal
for its removal, have leaped over every consider-
ation affecting the situation of those most deeply
interested, both masters and slaves : and their loud,
and unceasing cry is, repent, repent. Surely the
eyes which see such grievous beams in others,
should be clear of motes ; and the hearts which
condemn such hardness should be full of Christian
charity and meekness. But I fear the abolitionists
are not so guiltless of all sin, as to be authorized
to throw the first stone at slaveholders.
III. In making this brief appeal, I shall state
First, My own views with regard to slavery ;
and,
Secondly, My views respecting the plans and
measures of abolitionists, and their ultimate ten-
dency.
Abstractly considered, slavery has been proved
to be a grievous wrong. It would require very
little reasoning to convince a free man of common
intelligence and common uprightness that he pos-
sessed inherent rights and faculties, of which he
could not be justly deprived, except by the Creator
who bestowed them. Nor would it be difficult to
prove to him, that his fellow-men, by whom he is
surrounded, are entitled to the same privileges
as himself, being given by the same Author. The
equality of men in essential things, in likeness of
physical organization, in the attributes of body and
mind, is too evident to admit a doubt that God
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
29
intended each to be free and happy ; responsible
only to Him for the possession and exercise of
those endowments and faculties which he alone
could give or take away.
Were these great principles, which lie at the
very foundation of our theory of government, acted
upon by the human family, there would be no
crime, no misery, no tyranny, no slavery in the
world, and a community, whether large or small,
will be individually and socially happy, and ap-
proximate towards perfection, just in proportion to
its adoption and practice of these principles. But
alas ! we are speaking of principles which have
had but a very limited influence among men since
the garden of Eden was deserted ; and which will
never prevail in the world, till God regenerates
our race.
It will not probably be heresy in the view of
abolitionists to declare a belief in that ancient
doctrine, the fall of man from his original rectitude,
that event which
" Brought death into the world and all our wo."
From that period to the present, man, having
lost the moral image of his Maker, has followed
the devices of his own heart ; what these are,
the Bible will inform us : and the history of five
thousand years will attest the truth of the re-
cord. Without holy affections, without innocence,
mankind prefer the pleasures of sense to moral
obedience. And as God has so ordered, that his
laws cannot be broken with impunity, either in the
3*
30
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
moral or physical world, just so far as men have
trampled upon the authority of God, have they be-
come obnoxious to the penalty of transgression.
This penalty is exacted in the moral world — in the
guilty conscience, the shame of discovery, the fear
of punishment and of future retribution. In the
physical, it is seen in the shape of every evil that
" flesh is heir to." Tyranny and oppression, beastly
vice, haggard poverty, sickness and death, are its un-
erring results. God never made a man to be a slave,
neither did he ever make one to be sick, or poor, or
unhappy. But sickness and poverty are the certain
consequences of the transgression of the immutable
laws of Providence ; nor does slavery constitute an
exception. There can be no doubt that the regular
action of the functions of the human system will
always preserve health: it is only their obstruction
by intemperance and excess which produces disease ;
and this obstruction when complete must necessa-
rily end in the premature dissolution of the body.
So in civil communities, did each regard the great
laws of individual and equal rights, joined with the
evident acquirements of duty, to be industrious and
temperate, peace and happiness would universally
follow. But it is this disregard of the order of
Providence which obstructs healthy action in so-
ciety, just as in the human system. Men are
very sagacious to discover, and very prompt to
assist their own inherent rights and privileges, but
the equal rights of others are not included in their
process of reasoning.
And the same cause which makes the monarch
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
31
an oppressor, makes his servant a brute. Both
have cast off their obligations, and each is pur-
suing his self-gratification in the course most
agreeable to his condition. Perhaps in the next
generation their situations may be reversed : the
son of the tyrant-may be a groveling beast ; the
other an oppressive despot. But from the circum-
stances of men in most countries, comparatively
few can be lords or tyrants. Wealth, and talent,
and hereditary privilege generally combine to hold
the reins of power, but the avenues to sensual
gratification are open to all. Hence the mass of
men, by indulging their propensities for such grati-
fications as are within their reach, have been in
every age debased and vicious. The gradations
are many, but the tendency is always downward ;
and vast numbers in every community have ever
been at the bottom of the scale. They have
yielded every sentiment of honour and humanity to
the inexorable demands of a brutalizing lust; have
suffered the fire of heaven to be extinguished in
their bosoms, or given themselves over, self-bound,
to be beasts of burden. In elevating the scale of
human character from cannibalism to civilization
and Christianity, there is a stronger assertion of
national right and individual thought; but even at
the highest point yet attained, the structure of so-
ciety is like the feet of the image in Nebuchad-
nezzar's vision, part of iron and part of clay.
In this highly favoured country — if a digression
from the subject may be allowed — the community
32
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
appear to be intoxicated with the idea that the
golden age is returning; when liberty and equal
rights, emanating from this union as a centre, will
overspread the world. I invoke the blessing of
Heaven, that this feeling, so extensively pervading
the public mind, may not prove to be a mere fit of
intoxication, and nothing more nor worse. But
let us not be deceived. I fear we are anticipating
the most important effects, from very inadequate
causes — looking for good fruit from an evil tree.
As a nation, although but just emerged from
childhood, we have made some progress in the
arts, some in science, much in improvements of
practical utility ; and are perhaps in advance of
all others in the freedom of our constitution. But
we are as yet scarcely on the threshold of civil
liberty. Unless we enter far enough to see the
beauty and glory of the inner temple, our worship
will be confined merely, as it has been in all ages,
to the dazzling exterior. There is a charm which
captivates, in the sound of liberty ; but unless it
has its seat in the heart of pure moral affections,
its exercise cannot be depended on for guiding its
possessor aright, or for exerting a salutary influ-
ence upon others.
Nothing but the spirit of Christianity can elevate
us as a people. No man but a Christian can be a
true republican, in the highest and best sense of the
term. Of freedom of opinion and action we have
enough, more perhaps than the mass of men (liable
as they are to be swayed by corrupt and unprin-
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
33
cipled partizans) know how to exercise to advan-
tage; and unless our moral improvement advances
in the front rank of our social progress, the liberty
to do wrong will eventually overcome the dispo-
sition to do right. Could the arts have regenerated
the world, it would not be in so deplorable a con-
dition; for it is a question even now, whether
Egypt, three thousand years ago, was not our
superior. Could literature have done it, then the
Augustan Age had stayed that long night of dark-
ness which overspread twelve centuries of our era.
And of science, it will not be too much to say, that
it has been always harnessed to the car of ambi-
tion, and its highest attainments oftener exerted for
the destruction than the welfare of man.
Intelligence without piety is like the giant in the
fable, strong and blind, more likely to do evil than
good. An intellect that could measure the universe^
would not promote the best interests of man, with-
out being guided by a sense of moral obligation.
Political economists and philosophers, reasoning
ti priori, have concluded that there is necessarily a
period of advancement, of elevation, and decline in
national affairs. Because Egypt, and Assyria, and
Rome, rose, and reigned, and declined, therefore
all nations must. Such a doctrine is a libel on the
divine character; a stretch of assumption which
even infidelity has hardly dared to make. It is
mere fatalism — an adoption of one of the-grossest
sentiments of heathen mythology, that the fates are
above the gods themselves. Such a doctrine
34
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
teaches but one thing conclusively; and that, some
of its advocates would abhor, viz., the entire de-
pravity of man. That communities and nations
have not continued to rise and flourish, the history
of the past is a melancholy proof : but to say they
cannot, is to question the sincerity, authority, and
power of Jehovah, in his warnings, exhortations,
and promises to the Israelites in the Mosaic record.
In pursuing these reflections a little further,
suffer me to inquire, what is the ultimate object of
all our toil? what the glittering prize, which en-
larges our organs of vision? What the great idol
on whose altar the whole community is mad ? Is
it any thing higher than lofty conceptions of indi-
vidual and national aggrandizement ? Whence is
the loud boast of our commerce, our manufactures,
our internal resources, our rail-roads and canals ?
Is it any thing more than the flattering belief that
these will elevate us in power and grandeur above
the nations ? Without suitable acknowledgments of
the Divine sovereignty, and a heartfelt conviction
of our dependence, and obligations to Him, as our
constant benefactor; the blessings which are poured
into our lap without measure, will only enlarge our
ability, and increase our dispositions to do evil.
We have the Bible in proof, " The love of money
is the root of all evil." Was there ever a people
whose entire energies were so devotedly conse-
crated to the acquisition of gain, as ours? And
there is greater cause for apprehension in the fact,
that religion has, to a great extent, caught the
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS. 35
spirit, and appears ambitious to follow the maxims,
and keep up with the improvements of the world.
Her temples are crowded — her votaries innumer-
able; for the profession is in honor. Who are
indeed striving for " a crown of glory that fadeth
not away" will only be known, when the Son of
God shall come to claim his jewels. Heaven will
not lack inhabitants, if it be as easy to join the
church triumphant as to get into the church (mis-
called) militant.
Still, there is hope of our country, in the diffu-
sion of the means of light — in the spread of the
Bible — in the sacrifices for missions — in the exten-
sion of Sunday-schools, and more in that unobtru-
sive piety, which seeks out the objects of its
benevolence among the wretched, and mingles its
prayers and tears with the neglected outcast, un-
known to the world ; leaving its reward to " the
resurrection of the just." I would rather rest the
welfare and safety of my country, on the interces-
sions of one such soul, than on the valor of the
mightiest captain. Ten such souls would have
saved Sodom. A nation of such would convert
the world.
It was a beautiful emblem of the ancient Greeks
in lighting their altar fires from the sun. The
offering of common fire was unworthy the deity
they invoked. They undoubtedly borrowed the
idea from the Israelites, whose altars were some-
times kindled by fire miraculously descended : but
although they had lost the knowledge of the true
36
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
God, they kept up the allusion in drawing fire from
the principal object, of his visible creation. In pro-
portion to the number of hearts, which are daily
kindled with fire from heaven, will our country
obtain the protection and blessing of Infinite bene-
volence.
I will close this digression, by referring to a fact
of recent occurrence, which has been a subject of
serious reflection, from its contrast with parallel
scenes in our own country. I allude to the late
crowning of the Queen of England. In view of
the wealth and power of the British empire, the
splendor and talent of the embassies which came
to do it honour, it was perhaps the grandest and
most magnificent pageant which the world ever
witnessed. But the fact to which the attention of
the reader is directed, is the religious, yea, devo-
tional spirit of the august ceremonies. The high
priest of all England appears to have been the
second personage in the scale of attractions on
that solemn occasion. The sacred anthems, the
services of the church, the offerings, the presence
of the Bible, and the distinct acknowledgment of
its Author, as the source whence " kings reign and
princes decree justice," presented a spectacle
worthy of a Christian nation, and which cannot
but have a happy influence upon its morals and
institutions. Would that our republican legislators
might so far overcome their patriotic horror of the
union of church and state, as at least in their public
ceremonies of national interest to acknowledge the
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
37
sovereignty and beneficence of the Supreme Go-
vernor of the universe, and give pious hearts in
their vast assemblies an opportunity and an impulse
to invoke the blessings of God upon their public
servants and their own beloved country.
There is indeed -one event in our own history,
which will be remembered as an instance of the
moral sublime, and one on which a good man can-
not reflect without the keenest emotion. It was
when Franklin arose in the Congress which adopted
our constitution, and acknowledged there was a
God who ruled in the affairs of men, and proposed
that prayers be daily offered, for His wisdom and
guidance through the angry and stormy strife
which impeded all their deliberations. I am not
aware that Franklin was a professor of religion ;
but this act of his will increase the veneration for
his character and services among the good and
wise of his countrymen in all generations.
IV. To return from this digression to the ques-
tion of slavery.
If the view we have taken of the moral state of
man be correct — if the tendency of human nature,
when left to itself, is headlong downward — then
slavery, by arresting the progress of man in his
brutalizing course, may prove a blessing. For this
reason, God has permitted slavery, probably, to
avoid a greater evil On this principle can I ac-
count for the plain declarations of scripture in the
4
38
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
Old Testament. I know not how a proposition
can be expressed more plainly in words, than the
permission given the Israelites to hold slaves.
Lev. xxv. 44-46. This is more than mere permis-
sion, it is authority ; and the reason for it is plain,
on the principle I have assumed. Of the heathen
round about them, the Israelites might buy servants
to serve them for ever. The moral and physical
condition of such persons would be greatly im-
proved as slaves to the Israelites ; in comparison
with their lot as heathen, sunk in the grossest
idolatry and brutality.
And on this principle, I understand the curse
pronounced upon Ham, Gen. ix. 25-27; not that
it was for ever absolute and irreversible ; but that
Ham was so debased and prone to vice — his very
affections were so given up to the greedy pursuit
of sinful indulgence — that servitude to his brethren
would be the means of restraining him and his
posterity from the lowest depth of wretchedness.
And nowhere in the Bible is the possession of
slaves prohibited. I know it is contended, that the
great law of loving our neighbour as ourself utterly
condemns it. There can be no doubt among good
men, that when the principles of this law prevail
in the world, there will be no slavery. But I can-
not find any example or authority in sacred history,
for agitating its overthrow ; except by such a dif-
fusion of the light of the Gospel, as shall naturally
produce its extinction. It is evidently left by the
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
39
Saviour and apostles as an evil appertaining to the
present state of man, to be overthrown by the
gradual adoption of the principles of Christianity.
In illustration of this it may be remarked, that
there was probably never a people in a state of
greater moral delinquency, than the Jews in the
time of our Saviour. Slavery among them, and
among their masters the Romans, was a cup of
unmingled bitterness. The slaves of that period
drank it to the dregs. And yet Jesus Christ did not
preach insurrection or insubordination to the slave,
nor condemn the owner for possessing them. It
was no part of his mission to change the institu-
tions of society by a miracle. He did not inter-
fere with established usages and customs. He
admitted the order of society as he found it. " Ren-
der unto Cesar the things that are Cesars." The
great principles of morals he inculcated, when
adopted by an individual, will teach him the love
of God and man; when adopted by a community,
will overthrow every evil which that community
has cherished or practised. It was his object to
make the tree good ; not by a miracle to produce good
fruit from an evil tree. Of what advantage would
it have been to mankind, had he freed the slaves,
without giving them and their masters new mo-
tives of action 1 On this point it appears to me,
the abolitionists greatly err, in pressing the im-
mediate and unconditional emancipation of the
slaves in our country, without considering the con-
40
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
sequences which would result to masters and ser-
vants from such an act*
Again, this rule of doing to others what we
would have them do to us, was never taken in its
broadest literal signification. Such a construction
is not sustained by the Bible, nor the institutions of
the wisest men. In the present moral state of the
world, it would lead at once to the dissolution of
society. Its legitimate effect would be an agrarian
division of property, and another subdivision, as
soon as the improvident and vicious had wasted
their dividend. The abolitionists will contend that
by this rule the master ought to treat his slaves as
his children. But who ever did it 1 who ever re-
quired it ? They will not certainly object to be
judged by their works. Are their servants on an
equality with their children? Do they eat, and
drink, and sleep with them, as with their children —
send them to the same schools — occupy the same
seats in the church — use the same means to train
them up ? Do they alternately send their daugh-
ters into the kitchen, and bring their maid servants
into the parlour to acquire polite accomplishments 1
" Consistency is a jewel." Have they first cast
the motes out of their own eyes 1 Their practice
in the circumstances above mentioned is sufficient
proof that they do not regard the exhortation of
the apostle, " masters, give to your servants that
which is just and equal," as a command to make
* The reader is referred to the writer's views on this sub-
ject more fully in another part of this work, — Appeal to the
Free States.
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
41
them equals. If the inspired writer had intended
to make them free by this injunction, he would not
have used the term servants, which implies subjec-
tion.
Subordination and gradation prevail throughout
the world, — and they will forever. I speak it with
reverence, they prevail in heaven. The creation
of different orders of intelligence requires it : and
this is perfectly consistent with the moral govern-
ment of God. In a state of unmingled joy and
happiness, every being will enjoy the blessing to
the extent of his capacity, but the capacities of all
will not be equal.
Again, to refer to the doctrines and example of
the New Testament on this subject, I can but wish
our modern abolitionists would drink in more of the
spirit, and copy more the example of St. Paul.
We read that on one occasion, " his spirit was
stirred within him when he saw the city wholly
given to idolatry." That city was as full of slavery
as of idolatry ; but we do not read of any denun-
ciations against it in the language and spirit of
modern abolitionism. He even did not rail and
scoff at their idolatry. Did Paul in his epistles
teach servants that insubordination, or obedience,
was well-pleasing unto God ? Did he exhort mas-
ters to treat their slaves in vie w of an accountability
hereafter, and in the fear of God ? or did he de-
nounce them as deserving of utter wrath for the
mere act? Did he teach submission or rebellion
to the laws? — even of tyrants. Did he bring
4*
49
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
railing accusations against those who opposed
him ? — or was he content to say " the Lord reward
him according to his works?' Did he assist and
secrete runaway slaves? — or return such to their
Christian masters ! What was his course in the
vineyard of his Lord, in the midst of a most un-
godly generation — but one of meekness, forbear-
ance, patience, prayers, and tears! These are
evidences, known and read of all men, of the spirit
and power of Christianity, for they are qualities
and virtues which do not flourish in the hearts, nor
show themselves in the practices of the world.
On the principles heretofore mentioned, I hold
the doctrine of slavery. I believe the sin to be in
the abuse, rather than the use of slaves. 1 cannot
think of any circumstances in which I would pur-
chase a slave — except to manumit him ; but have
no hesitation in declaring my conviction, that
should slaves fall into my hands by marriage, inhe-
ritance, or otherwise, I might possess them, and so
discharge my duty towards them, as to avoid con-
demnation of heaven. On this point, I have no
doubt ; but may God spare me the trial. It is a
fearful responsibility to have one's temporal and
eternal destiny put into his own hands : who, then,
is sufficient to incur that of many others in addition
to his own ? I should fear the result, when my
principles and self-interest were at strife, over a
rational, immortal being like myself, and his welfare
was the stake. His moral accountability, his life
and health, his riches and poverty, his virtue and
vice, his ignorance and knowledge, would be so
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
43
much under my control, that on my head must
rest a fearful obligation.
But there is another objection which, as an in-
dividual, I should plead against holding slaves ; and
which, although of an entirely different character
from the one just mentioned, would be conclusive,
viz., their comparative worthlessness as laborers.
Except in a country where Divine Providence has
poured out its bounty upon the soil with an un-
sparing hand, they are not profitable. On a sterile
or exhausted soil they are a moth, scarcely pro-
ducing their living. If this fact is an argument
against slavery, so be it : it is no part of my design
to shield it from fair and close investigation.
Before leaving this part of the subject I wish to
anticipate a question, which many readers may
wish to propose, — " Admitting the correctness of
your views respecting slavery, would it not be more
consistent with our professions, as a moral, benevo-
lent people, to endeavour to teach and elevate the
poor and degraded, rather than by consigning them
to bondage, merely coerce them into a state of
negative goodness ?" Certainly. No man who has
the most distant pretension to Christian character,
can hesitate to decide this point. But the question,
in this form, does not apply to our subject. We
are not to consider the propriety, expediency, or
sinfulness of adopting certain measures ; but the
influence of measures which have been adopted?
and incorporated into society for generations.
The difference is as great, I apprehend, as between
44
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
deciding whether a certain regimen if adopted, will
injure a man's health ; and the best method of
counteracting the effects of that regimen upon the
system, after it has been practised for years, and
found to be pernicious.
V. I purpose to make some remarks upon the
plans and measures of abolitionists.
And, first, it appears almost evident, that a con-
viction must force itself upon the minds of sober
reflecting men, who have taken an interest in this
controversy, that the abolitionists have not fol-
lowed the Christian rule laid down by the Saviour,
Matt, xviii. 15, nor the golden rule, of doing as they
would have others do to them. On the abstract
question of right and wrong, they commenced a
most violent attack upon slaveholders indiscrimi-
nately ; denouncing them all as guilty of a most
horrible, unnatural crime ; and with an assurance
unbecoming fallible men, anticipating the extreme
judgments of Heaven. And then, for accomplishing
its overthrow, they took a step, for the wisdom of
which the history of the world can not furnish a
parallel. That step was, the sending of these
bitter, indiscriminate denunciations all over the
South, hurling their direful anathemas in the face
of a community, which neither acknowledged their
right to judge, nor the correctness of their as-
sumptions.
2d. As an appendage to these denunciations,
they held up slavery as a monster of cruelty, and
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
45
impurity, and oppression ; virtually saying to every
slaveholder who received one of these inflamma-
tory papers, " thou art the man." Can it be won-
dered at, if the whole South was instantly in a
blaze. For my own part, I am only surprised,
that the utterance of southern feeling and indigna-
tion was not more outrageous. The unanimity of
the South, in repelling these attacks, and throwing
back these denunciations is without a parallel.
Not only the slaveholder from principle, but the
thousands who were anxiously looking for some
way to abolish it, all united in resisting this wanton
attack. Even now, in the national and state legis-
latures, every question is viewed by southern men
with regard to the bearing it has upon immediate
abolition.
In another respect the action of abolitionists has
been contrary to every principle of justice, recti-
tude, and fairness. As a body they know com-
paratively nothing of practical slavery, and yet
they continually denounce it for its cruelty. They
have seized hold of individual instances of great
tyranny and personal oppression, and charge the
crime upon the whole community. This is mani-
festly unjust. By the same rule every denomina-
tion of Christians — yea, Christianity itself — might
be condemned. Probably not one person in a hun-
dred who has subscribed to abolition societies
and petitions, has ever been in a slave state. Their
information is derived, in a great measure, from
travelers and transient residents — many of whose
46
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
statements are of an exparte character, and of
whom comparatively few had sufficient opportuni-
ties, or took sufficient interest in the subject, to
judge it fairly or comprehensively. The inhabi-
tants of the free states, who have never been at
the South, can form no more definite ideas of the
practical operation of slavery, than they can of the
face of a country, from the description of a tra-
veler. The traveler will show you a hill here, and
a valley there, but of the numberless inequalities of
surface, a single view will give you a correcter
idea, than a hundred pages of description. So on
this subject, it is impossible to form a comprehen-
sive view of the detail of slaverv. without actual
inspection. The writer had conversed with, and
questioned hundreds respecting it, but two days'
actual observation gave him altogether a clearer
view of the system of what slavery is, than the
answers to a thousand questions.
Another measure of abolitionists, which has been
the cause of much excitement, was the invitation
and cordial reception given to a foreign emissary
to denounce slavery, at the North. This excited
feelings of great irritation at the South, as it did
feelings of humiliation among the majority in the
free states. It was in effect declaring that Ameri-
cans were not capable of managing their own
domestic concerns, without foreign interference.
Had this missionary gone to the South, as the ap-
propriate field of his labours, it would have been
in character ; but his moral courage could not have
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
47
been of a very high order, to shoot his artillery from
behind a barrier, and fear to meet his opponents
face to face. The views of the writer at that
period were inclined to favour abolition, but as an
American he heartily rejoiced that this intermed-
dling philanthropist was driven from the country by
the force of public sentiment, without personal
injury.
Again, the resolutions introduced and carried,
and the speeches delivered at abolition meetings,
are frequently characterized by illiberality ; full of
violent and bitter denunciation against the whole
South, without respect to age, sex, or character.
If we are to believe some of them, the ministers
of the slaveholding states are more deserving the
Penitentiary than the pulpit. Such wholesale ma-
ledictions are a source of constant irritation, excit-
ing deep feelings of prejudice and animosity at the
South, and they retard the progress of true bene-
volence.
In connexion with this may be mentioned the
abolition periodicals. I regret to say they are far,
immeasurably, below that standard of Christian
forbearance and moderation, which should charac-
terize the discussion of so important a subject.
They have descended from that elevation wThich
should ever be sustained in pleading the cause of
humanity and philanthropy, to wallow in the dirty
waters of malevolence and abuse. A good cause
never requires the aid — is never promoted by the
use — of opprobrious language. " Soft words and
♦
48
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
hard arguments" is the maxim of Christianity ; not
feeble arguments in harsh words. It seems almost
impossible for a paragraph writer on the abolition
side, not to get into a passion, and to scatter fire-
brands on all sides of him. Not satisfied with
depicting scenes of inhuman cruelty and oppression
which he never witnessed, he pours vials of worm-
wood and gall upon a whole community.
Among these periodicals the " Liberator" de-
serves notice, as being the oldest ; the great
pioneer of anti-slavery. I never read it except as
accident threw it in my way ; but it will be safe
to assert, that I never saw a copy, which did not
contain sentences and epithets, which Christianity
would blush to own. One of these papers, the only
one seen for a year, now lies before me. I will
copy a few sentences in proof of the statement
above. The writer is speaking of some coloniza-
tionist in New Jersey. It ought to be stated, how-
ever, that this communication is not original in
the Liberator, but adopted from another paper.
" One Honourable persecuting inquisitor, who
has more presumption than brains, already in a
certain neighbourhood, has done more mischief,
and created more prejudice against the poor un-
offending coloured people, and thrown more diffi-
culties in their way, than his body hung upon
pitch-forks could atone for in purgatory, in a
thousand generations. Contemptible wretch ! Is
it not enough that coloured men are already sought
out and abused by every vagabond in the land,
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS,
49
through colonization instrumentality T will this gray-
headed totterer upon the brink of the grave and of
eternity, fill up the measure of his iniquity by
becoming more notorious for cruelty and wicked-
ness than Satan himself V9
I will leave this extract, with the single observa-
tion, that I have entirely mistaken the character of
the people in JNew England, if they sustain a cause
which is supported by such language, and such a
temper as the above.
It is with no pleasure these references are made
to the Liberator. For the writer had formed a high
opinion of Mr. Garrison — tinctured no doubt with
boyish enthusiasm — from an anecdote which is
current in some parts of the North. It is this : — His
mother consecrated him to the work of slave
emancipation from childhood ; instilled into his
youthful bosom a horror of the practice ; and
charged him to prosecute its abolition, as the great
purpose of his earthly being. The writer disclaims
all intention of injuring any person by relating this
anecdote, nor does he indorse its correctness.
Even if it be true, it will not be believed that Mr.
Garrison imbibed the gall and bitterness of his
paper from such a source ; and perhaps there are
palliating circumstances in the fact, that he has
been publicly denounced as an incendiary, and a
reward offered for his apprehension and delivery
to the South. But a man who places himself in
the front rank in a great moral enterprize, must
not only forego all stipulations affecting his personal
5
50
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
destiny, but should bear himself above the petty
strife and clamor of the multitude. It is painful
to reflect, that in a man of his talents and influence,
the " milk of human kindness" should so soon be
dried up, or that he should ever be girded with
other armour than that which becomes a Christian
philanthropist.
And the abolition periodicals abound in such Chris-
tian sentiments. 1 will instance one more — from a
reverend editor in New York : — " Truly, we believe
the destiny of the most abhorred beings that ever
lived on earth, will be mild compared with the repro-
bation that awaits the clerical defenders of American
slavery." Then perdition unavoidably awaits nine
tenths of the ministers of all denominations south
of the Potomac and Ohio. And oh ! such an ag-
gravated doom ! The writer has some clerical
acquaintance in the slave states, who he had no doubt
— until this malediction appeared — would be found
worthy to walk the streets of the New Jerusalem ;
and even now he will continue to hope, reflecting
with respect to these men in the spirit of a royal
and a grievous sinner of old, who in the depth of
his penitence said, " who can tell V9
But the above, and similar expressions from the
same paper, should be read with great allowances ;
for the writer can bear witness that this same
reverend editor is a very serious, conscientious,
estimable man, except when he is seized with these
terrible ague-fits of immediate abolition. He is
indeed, upon the whole, a very fair reasoner on
the subject of slavery ; but occasionally, after pre-
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS. 51
paring a very palatable dish, even for his opponents,
he will, in one of these paroxysms, dash in worm-
wood enough to nauseate even his friends.
The writer would suggest in the kindest manner
to this reverend editor to commence a series of
essays on charity', founded upon the thirteenth
chapter of First Corinthians. By keeping the ske-
leton in the drawer of his editorial table, where he
could seize it in a moment, and employ a half hour
in filling it up, when he felt one of these wormwood
fits coming on, it might greatly promote the cause
of rational abolition.
There is one feature in many of the productions
of abolitionists to which I would seriously call
their attention, as it is evidently proof either of an
unusual degree of human frailty or of superhuman
knowledge. They are very much inclined to ex-
tend their denunciations beyond the limits of time,
and assign their opponents to a doom more or less
aggravated, it would seem, in proportion to their
want of faith in, or opposition to, the scheme of
immediate abolition. From the example of the
Bible, it appears that the future destiny of sinners
was seldom pronounced except by Him who knew
what was in man — an apostle but in one instance
saying — " thou child of the devil ;" and even an
angel, when disputing with an opponent, was con-
tent to say, " the Lord rebuke thee."
VI. Permit me now to state, what the aboli-
tionists have already effected at the South.
And first, they have loaded themselves with not
52
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
only the indignation, but the deep execration of
nearly a whole community. It is impossible for
language to express the feelings of slaveholders on
this point. Imagine a monster with the heart of a
fiend and the strength of a tiger ; which delighted
in filling a peaceful hamlet with midnight shrieks
and consternation — that monster would be an ap-
proximation to an aboli ionist, in the mind of a
southern slaveholder. I do not use this language
as mere declamation — but only express the ideas
which have been conveyed to the mind, through
the medium of the eye and the ear.
And the question immediately arises; have they
deserved this execration ? As an individual I do
not hesitate to say, they are not a together guiltless.
The reasons for this opinion have been recapitu-
lated. It has been stated that abolitionists are not
proper judges of slavery, for as a body they know
nothing about it ; and it is equally true, that as a
body, slaveholders are not proper judges of abo-
litionists, and for the same reason. Just in this
position the parties stand at present, ignorant of
each other's characters and motives; but vindict-
ively urgent in hurling at each other the most
violent denunciations, and applying the grossest
epithets of abuse which language can furnish. It
is impossible to say which has the advantage in
this contest, but it must be admitted that the abo-
litionists were the aggressors.
Secondly. The abolitionists could not have de-
vised a plan, more effectually to close up every
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
53
avenue leading to slave emancipation, than the
measures which have been referred to. They
have greatly increased a feeling of jealousy and
suspicion towards the North ; and they have rivet-
ted the fetters of the slave, abridging the few
pleasures he enjoyed, and throwing serious ob-
stacles in the way of his redemption. I had often
heard this stated as one of the results of abolition
movements, but gave it little credit, believing it to
be the outcry of persons interested in the perpetua-
tion of slaver}'. But a very slight acquaintance
with the South will place its truth beyond a doubt.
Pass over the boundary between the free and slave
states, at any point you please : and as you advance,
ask the inhabitants their views of abolition, and
the effect its measures have had in abridging
the liberty of the slave. If the answers are not
unanimous, as to the fact, and the cause, I will
retract the statement.
In all the frontier slave states, several causes
have conspired to work a change in the public mind
prejudicial to slavery, for some years past. This
change had operated so far in most of these states,
as to produce more or less action touching the
question of slavery in the state legislatures. In Vir-
ginia particularly, the subject had been freely dis-
cussed with respect to measures for prospective
emancipation, and the people were watching the
progress of legislation with great interest. Almost
in a moment, the subject was dropped, when it was
seen what course the abolitionists were pursuing ;
54
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
and instead of measures for giving freedom to
slaves, it was considered necessary to make addi-
tional laws for their security; and to counteract
what were looked upon as incendiary movements
in the free states.
Could abolitionists hear good men (for although
it may not be credited every where, there are good
men among slaveholders), I repeat, could they
hear good men in Virginia deplore this, as one of
the injurious results of their measures, they would
ponder their doings with more deliberation. The
wheels which had begun to move, and were ac-
quiring accelerated motion by the action of public
sentiment, were effectually blocked ; and they could
never be set in motion again until the obstacle was
removed. When the whole South was assailed
with denunciation, and threatened with ruin and
perdition, it was to be expected that all parties
and opinions should sink their private views and
minor interests in the public welfare, and unite in
opposing the common enemy. Thus the public
agitation of the subject has been indefinitely post-
poned through the mistaken zeal of abolitionists.
There can be little doubt in the minds of those
acquainted with the subject, that had there been no
cause of reaction, public opinion wTould have direc-
ted legislation to provide for prospective emanci-
pation, in more than one of the slave states, in a
very few years ; probably the work would have
been commenced at the present moment. There
is a continual outcry among a certain class of
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS. 55
agitators, from one end of the slave states to the
other, appealing to southern interests, and southern
feelings, and having a direct reference to the insti-
tution of slavery. This is a bond of union indeed,
and one which will not be easily dissolved ; but
there is a stronger bond even than this which go-
verns men, and that is individual interest. And rest
assured, that just as soon as a majority of the talent,
the wealth, the free population of any state decides
that slavery is injurious to the best interests of that
state, it will be abandoned, notwithstanding all the
influence which may be brought to oppose it. And
there are powerful causes at work, tending to pro-
duce this result, in all the frontier slave states.
Were the writer to undertake a mission to the
South to preach against slavery, he would, at least
in the five most northern states, take political eco-
nomy for his text, and engage to convert fourfold
more slaveholders than could abolitionists.
But the last thing that can be done, will be to
drive them into emancipation. Almost every thing
in this world can be driven from its position, but
human nature ; and of this genus, perhaps the
American is the most intractable species; and of
the American, the southern will claim its full share
of pertinacity in maintaining its opinions and de-
fending its practices.
Had abolitionists adopted a different course, they
might have effected great good — perhaps the ac-
complishment of their object, slave emancipation.
Instead of confining their attention chiefly to the
56
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
abstract question of moral right and wrong, and
bitterly reproaching the advocates of slavery on
their own assumption of the decision, they had de-
liberated and inquired as other men, and even as
they do on other subjects, they would now sustain
a very different attitude before the community.
Had they at first made an appeal to the South
openly, and not as spies — in the spirit of Christian
forbearance and meekness, appealing to their hearts
and consciences as responsible and accountable
stewards, they would have found many persons
willing to listen to all their rebukes, and ready to
confer with them respecting any feasible plan for the
abolition of slavery. Had they gone, not as agents
of societies, but as simple individuals, and examined
slavery critically, in the various aspects of its prac-
tical operation, they would have been better able
to judge of its enormity, and to apply a suitable
remedy. Had they preached the doctrines of the
New Testament — not on the house-tops but at the
fireside — they would have found multitudes ready
to respond to the truth, and would have been re-
ceived with courtesy and Christian hospitality.
But let them not go now, as avowed abolitionists,
unless they aspire to a national notoriety. They
would hardly escape the honor of martyrdom, be-
low the thirty-fifth degree of latitude : above that
line they might receive some permanent badge of
southern sensibility. And yet at this day, there is
no hesitation in a Virginian to converse freely, and
express his views frankly respecting slavery to a
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS. 51
guest, who gives evidence that he has no sinister
design in view.
There are thousands of slaveholders who are
as anxious to get rid of slavery as abolitionists are
to have them — though not in all cases, for precisely
the same reason. Perhaps the latter may take to
themselves the credit of this fact, but let them not
be deceived. The persons with whom the writer
conversed, who most deeply regretted the existence
of slavery among them, could scarcely restrain
their indignation when alluding to the abolitionists
for having effectually (at least for the present) put
a stop to all the plans in progress for the removal
of the evil. Perhaps it may not be universally
known, that the law prevents masters from giving
freedom to their slaves, unless they are sent out of
the state ; or bonds are required for their mainte-
nance and good behaviour.
The creed of the abolitionist may be summed
up in one sentence — " do right, and leave conse-
quences to God." This reads very well, but in the
view of slaveholders it is mere assumption, inas-
much as it implies that slavery is not right. The
majority of slaveholders are conscious of no
wrong in the practice. And a very little reflection,
or a limited acquaintance v ith human nature,
might have taught the abolitionists, that a system
of so long standing, incorporated into society for
ages, combining the influence of almost the entire
community, would not surrender at discretion.
They might have known that, however individuals
58
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
of that community might be affected by the ques-
tion, there were multitudes upon whom their belief
would have no effect ; who would spurn their
anathemas, and scoff at dictation on a subject in
which their own interests were immediately and
vitally concerned. Foreseeing this, probably, and
wishing to array all the opposition to it in one
combination, they have exerted themselves in form-
ing a system of affiliated societies in the free
states ; hoping, perhaps, by their exertions, and
trusting to the numerical strength and intelligence
of the North, to bear down slavery by the concen-
trated force of public opinion.
But are they sure of being right in this view of
the subject. On this point, I would bespeak their
most serious and deliberate attention. They pro-
fess to be governed by very disinterested and pure
motives, appealing to the Bible for arguments in
defence of their measures, and for their rectitude
of motive. But supposing they should succeed in
concentrating public opinion at the North against
slavery: is that opinion so enlightened, that it
would be controlled by the spirit of the Gospel?
If not, then its concentration against slavery would
only produce evil, being governed by selfish mo-
tives. I confess a decided belief, that the concen-
tration of public opinion in the free states, (en-
lightened and pious as they are,) would, at present,
be swayed much more strongly by political than
by religious motives. There are indications that
anti-slavery is becoming drawn into the vortex of
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
59
politics ; if so, it will at once descend from its
peculiar position, and be merged in the strife of
parties; or should it become sufficiently influential
to make itself the most prominent subject of party
action — which it will never do, until its tone is
changedi — it would lead at once to decisive, perhaps,
fatal measures. But as the stream cannot rise
above its fountain, neither can the moral agency of
a society exceed the moral aggregate of its mem-
bers. If the abolitionists, by any possible event,
should succeed in obtaining a majority in the state
and national councils ; and should then press their
measures in the same spirit they now manifest;
can they depend upon the moral power of that
majority to wield the elements in the storms that
may arise? Have abolitionists deeply pondered
the event of success in their headlong course?
VII. There is one more subject, having a most
important bearing on this question, to which I wish
briefly to allude, in closing this chapter. The
abolitionists have become clamorous for the expur-
gation of the District of Columbia. Their efforts
on this point are destined, I candidly believe, to be
productive of evil On this subject, sober reflection
has made an entire revolution in my opinion.
First. The South will always resist the proposition.
They will never consent to the measure (nor can
they consistently) until they are ready to abolish
slavery in the states. They look upon this district
in the light of a frontier post adjoining an enemy's
60 TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
territory, the yielding of which would open an
avenue for their admission into the whole country.
Under these circumstances, the continual agitation
of the question must be a source of exceeding irri-
tation and apprehension. And in the zeal which
the people of the North have manifested on this
subject, it appears they have lost something of
that reputation for staidness and deliberation for
which they are wont to be characterized. I say
the people of the North, for I am persuaded but a
part of those signing the petitions for abolition in
the District of Columbia, would agree with the
abolitionists in their abuse, and their indiscriminate
and unchristian denunciation of the South. Com-
paratively few of the petitioners on the long rolls
sent to Congress ever deliberately canvassed the
subject, or seriously reflected upon the consequen-
ces of the success of their petition. They have
perhaps heard an anti-slavery lecture, and the
petition is passed round at the close, while the
thermometer of public feeling is a,bove blood-heat,
under the influence of the eloquent lecture ; or some
busy-body with a long tongue in a small head goes
through the neighbourhood with the instrument of
abolition in his hand, and lectures by families. His
eloquence magnetises wherever it falls, and the
fever becomes contagious. The deacon signs it
because the minister did ; the farmer because the
squire did ; and all their hirelings, to be in good
company. Is it not so ?"
Secondly. Although it is admitted that Congress
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
61
has unlimited power in the district, yet it may be
questioned, whether an act to abolish slavery there
would be in all respects an act of good faith. That
part of the district in which the city of Washing-
ton is situated was formerly an integral part of the
state of Maryland: Would she have resigned her
jurisdiction over this territory, had she known that
Congress would have abolished slavery in it t And
if not, would it be proper for Congress to do
what she would not have done 1 Had the terri-
tory in question been located in a free state, and
the South had petitioned Congress to admit slaves,
or the traffic of slaves in it, contrary to the esta-
blished usages of the place, would there have been
no outcry, no resistance from the North ? And
would not this very point have been urged, that
Congress was transcending its proper limits by
doing that which the state having original juris-
diction would never have permitted ?
Thirdly. Another circumstance deserving atten-
tion is the fact, that probably a majority of the
people in the district would at present vote against
the interference of Congress on this point : although,
while there is so much excitement in the country,
no attempt will probably be made to obtain an
expression of public sentiment.
Fourthly. I would suggest an opinion, that this
district should be held as common ground, on which
all the inhabitants of the country may meet on terms
of amity. Unhappily, the usages of the various
sections of our country arc different ; on this very
6
62
TO NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS.
account, the central point at which they legislate
should be a place where each may find its sectional
usages respected. Great forbearance should be
exercised, that the people of no section should
come here with the feeling, that their rights were
infringed or their privileges curtailed. If the
sight of a slave is offensive or painful to an aboli-
tionist, he must not only keep away from slavery,
but should alter the laws of the United States,
which, as a citizen, he is bound to respect; for
these recognize the right of carrying slaves all
over the country.
Congress has always manifested a very liberal
disposition towards this district. It is a beautiful
section of hill and dale, well adapted from its
locality to be the seat of federal government ; and
its inhabitants have great reason to be thankful for
the liberality and favour of Congress. It has ex-
tended a generous hand to aid public improve-
ments, wherever there was a probability of their
being useful. It has done much to embellish
Washington in its public buildings ; and if private
enterprise keeps pace with the public munificence,
the city cannot fail to be a capital worthy of the
Union.
CHAPTER II.
APPEAL TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
L Design of the writer. Slaveholders and abolitionists ignorant
of each other.
II. Character of abolitionists misunderstood — enthusiasts — in*
creased by opposition — many of them well-meaning men.
III. Slavery, general view — negroes human beings, capable of
improvement.
IV. Power of the master — slaveholders interrogated. Fearful
responsibility in holding human beings as slaves.
V. The Bible on that responsibility.
VI. Brief survey of practical slavery — moral aspect — ignorance
— dishonesty, facts in proof — licentiousness, slaveholders aware
of the evil.
VII. Influence of slavery on individuals — character of slaves —
their influence on masters — on poor white men.
VIII. Influence of slavery on national prosperity — monopoly of
cotton — southern system not favourable to improvement —
comparison with imperial Rome — with Peru and Mexico.
IX. A better system recommended to the South. Question of
moral right will be agitated among slaveholders.
X. Slaveholders plead that a manufacturing country makes actual
slaves — some weight in the plea — radical difference. Southern
states should depend on agriculture. " Plan " of independence
considered.
XI. Views of the North on slavery — tendency of abolition —
ridiculous action among some northern manufacturers.
XII. Dissolution of Union threatened — its preservation urged upon
the South. North not inimical to the South.
XIII. The probable result of the controversy. Influence of British
emancipation. Modern slavery compared with Roman and
Grecian. Conclusion.
Slavery — that consuming canker of great states.
Sismondi.
I. In a former chapter I have given you my
views of the measures and movements of aboli-
G4
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
tionists ; permit me now, as a suitable introduction
to this, to tell you something of the abolitionists
themselves. If the description should differ from
the picture in your mind's eye, be assured there
is no intentional deception or false colouring ; and
that it is drawn from actual observation. The
writer did not enter upon this undertaking to build
up or pull down, to favour or traduce, any party
or man, and never entered into any calculation
respecting the degree of approbation or censure
which might accompany his labours. A good
cause never suffered by investigation ; a bad one
was never permanently benefited by falsehood or
intrigue. It is less the design of the writer to give
his own opinions, than to state facts, and leave
the reader to form his own conclusions.
With these views, it is to be regretted that so
much asperity of feeling should exist between the
great parties of this controversy — the abolitionists
and those slaveholders which have taken a con-
spicuous part in opposing them — with so little
knowledge of each others characters and motives.
On each side judgment has been made up from
exparte statements, and a verdict rendered against
the whole body, from the inflammatory language
and excited action of a few. This is not only
unhappy, but it might have been prevented by more
deliberation and forbearance. It must be most
evident that neither party is deserving the un-
qualified abuse which has been cast upon it by the
other.
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
G5
II. The writer has been personally acquainted
with several abolitionists, some of whom have held
a prominent place before the public, since the first
agitation of the subject ; and he is ready to bear
witness that they are not the cutthroats and
monsters which slaveholders are led to believe.
Worse men than they, misguided or unprincipled
demagogues, having private interests to subserve or
hideous passions to gratify, have raised the hue
and cry against them — have set on the mob to break
up their meetings, destroy their property, and put
their lives in peril — to load them with infamy, and
quiet the South. No. other result could reasonably
be expected, than that which followed. Instead
of a handful of quiet, unoffending men, who met
to pass resolutions on the subject of slavery, to
relieve their minds of a burden, they have grown
up, in spite of themselves, into a numerous body ;
and now occupy a large space in the public mind,
both north and south. Sober, reflecting men, who
witnessed the treatment they suffered for no illegal
act or offence against the laws, necessarily came
to the conclusion, that if such violence was to be
the penalty of believing and acting as every in-
dividual has a right to do, then no man or society
would be safe from the exactions and injuries of
a lawless infuriated rabble ; and they befriended
or took sides with the abolitionists, not so much
from a belief of their sentiments, as to sustain the
peace and order of society.
The men who inflamed the mob and set them
6*
6G
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
to their task are utterly devoid of principle ; and
having only selfish purposes to gratify, would as
soon set fire to the south as the north, if they could
thereby accomplish their interested designs. The
miserable beings who generally act as efficient
agents in such scenes — men in the likeness but
without the attributes of humanity — who hav sunk
the rational intelligence into brutal vice, and who
have brought hopeless poverty and oppression upon
themselves in all ages, are probably destined in
this, as in every other country, to be controlled,
when in masses, like beasts of prey, only by powder
and ball. That this class were the workmen in these,
as in all mobs, there is no doubt ; and yet it cannot
be denied, that in almost all the tumults growing out
of abolition at the North, there have been large
numbers of orderly persons, and many respectable
citizens, looking on with approbation. If these latter
supposed they were aiding in pulling down abolition,
by their passive assent in countenancing the mob
in pulling down houses, they egregiously erred, as
experience has abundantly proved.
True, the abolitionists are enthusiasts — they are
absorbed in the contemplation of this, as the great
sin of the nation ; and believe they are called upon
by every principle of Christianity, and by the love
of man, to raise their voice against it ; and to use
every reasonable exertion for its extinction. If
they use unreasonable exertions, the fault should be
attributed in some measure to the headlong preci-
pitancy of the times ; and something should cha-
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
67
ritably be allowe'd for the infirmities of human na-
ture, under the circumstances in which they have
been placed ; as all history, civil and ecclesiastical,
proves that the proper aliment on which enthusiasm
thrives and prospers is opposition.
But apart from their exclusiveness on this
point, the abolitionists, those of whom the writer
can speak from personal experience, are unas-
suming, peaceable men, having at least as much
claim to the character of Christian as their op-
ponents. They would not designedly hurt the
hair of the head of a single slaveholder. They
have not enlisted in this cause from motives of
self-interest, popular favour, or ambition. Were
you to sit down with them to discuss the subject
of slavery, however the argument might turn, I
would guarantee the abolitionist not to be the first
to lose temper. Of course, I except certain hot-
headed ones, which in this, as in every other cause,
are always loaded and primed ready to go off.
That many of them are philanthropists, in the highest
sense of the term ; not giving to those who can
repay them, but devoting themselves to seeking
out, relieving, and instructing the miserable and
wretched, is susceptible of proof. They are ac-
tively engaged in some northern cities, in drawing
those idle and vagabond children for whom "no
man cares" from the streets or their miserable
abodes, and collecting and teaching them in Sab-
bath-schools. For these labours of unrequited
philanthropy, of pure, disinterested patriotism, and
true charity, I will honour them, and praise them.
68
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
— notwithstanding the frowns an<£scorn of popular
obloquy — believing, that in the day which shall
« try every man's work, of what sort it is," these
labours will stand every test and be approved ;
whatever may be the fate of their abolition
measures.
III. The subject of American slavery is one of
such vast magnitude, involving so many interests,
and presenting such a variety of aspects, that to
trace even an outline of the whole field would re-
quire time and research, which the writer is wholly
unable to command. He wishes, nevertheless, in
the brief space allotted to this chapter, to call your
attention to some points of great interest, and de-
serving your deliberate and profound considera-
tion.
And first, with respect to the main question, —
slavery itself. It is not necessary to repeat or
add to what has been stated in another place. I
have there briefly but frankly avowed my own
sentiments on the subject. In presenting this ap-
peal to you, I wish as frankly to address you first
as accountable beings, and in view of a tribunal
hereafter, where the judgments of men will be re-
viewed and reversed, and where every man will
be judged according to his works.
I take the ground that the negro is a human be-
ing, although now sunk in ignorance, and degraded
by slavery — a being, having capacities for improve-
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
69
ment and enjoyment above his present lot — a being,
accountable to God, and destined to future retribu-
tion— and a being who has claims upon the phi-
lanthropy of the age, which cannot much longer
be slighted or overlooked.
All of you will agree to some of these proposi-
tions ; some of you will agree to them all. But no
efforts for reformation will avail, unless founded
upon principles of Christian benevolence. Nothing
but the spirit of the gospel can essentially ameliorate
the condition, humanize and christianize the negro.
All other principles of reformation will degenerate
into mercenary and selfish practices. Human
nature is essentially the same, in all ages and
countries ; its great deity is self — its highest attain-
mcnt self-idolatry.
IV. You hold, by legal possession, by long un-
questioned right, the person of the slave. He and
his posterity are yours to employ, and to dispose
of, according to your own pleasure. His time and
abilities are yours — his task has no limit but your
will. Of freedom or property he has none. He
can make no alliances, no contracts — his wife and
children are not his own, but yours. His igno-
rance and knowledge, his virtue and vice, are
governed by the circumstances of his situation.
The employment of the faculties which God has
given him, and which are indestructible, is in-
fluenced by your control ; yea, the manner in which
70
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
he exercises them as an accountable moral being,
is shaped by your example and authority.
Now, without entering into any question of right
or responsibility, permit me to ask you, on what con-
ditions would you agree to have the order of society
reversed, and yourselves and posterity destined to
the same state and situation in which you now
hold the negro ? I do not say, to the negro, but in
the most favourable circumstances, in which the
cases should be parallel ; so you would be con-
trolled absolutely by a master, and held " as goods
and chattels." Are you indignant at the question ?
Then there are still stronger reasons for the pro-
priety of asking it. It may not be in accordance
with the established rules of fashionable courtesy
to propose such a question, as the foundation of an
argument or discussion ; but in view of the great
interests of humanity — of that moral accountability
of which we all are partakers — the artificial rules
of society will never be permitted to suppress a
query, prompted by rectitude of motive, and having
for its object an investigation of the utility and pro-
priety of customs and usages practised by a great
community.
Perhaps, if you deign an answer, you will sum-
marily decide, that such a reversal is not within
the limits of possibility. Were the present state of
existence the end of man, this answer might be
conclusive, for there is scarcely a possibility that
the weak could overcome the strong — that barba-
rism and ignorance could triumph over civilization
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
71
and the arts. But this is not the view of the sub-
ject we are contemplating. In view of the control
you exercise over the slave, do you not sustain the
greatest weight of responsibility of which man is
susceptible ? — a responsibility greatly increased by
being exercised under the light of Christianity.
Unless you deny his relation to the human family,
you cannot forget that the negro is equally with
yourself the creature of the same infinite Creator,
— that common Father of all — who is no respecter
of persons ; and before whom, in all essential at-
tributes, human beings of our race are equal. In
the closing hours of life, when the honours, and
riches, and colour, which now give you an enviable
superiority in the eyes of the world, shall be re-
duced to their just estimate, this equality will ap-
pear with a distinctness which you never imagined.
Even, if you are satisfied, beyond the reach of
doubt, that slavery in your case is morally right,
have you no reason to fear, in view of the frailty
and selfishness of our nature, that in the possession
of such powers your self-interest or passion will
obtain the mastery over reason and conscience —
over the perception of right and wrong ; and that
you will exceed the measure of a rightful and just
authority. The rule of that measure is, what you
would have exercised over you were you the
slave. In view of the moral responsibility attend-
ing the condition of master and slave, it appears
to me that a man having any adequate perception
of that responsibility, and of his own fallibility,
72
TO SLAVE HOLE ERS.
would not hesitate, were he destined to choose
between them, to accept the latter.
I have before stated my belief that slavery to a
good master might, by checking the propensities of
a debased and groveling human being, prove a bless-
ing. On this point I have adverted to Scripture in
proof. Probably every reader of this can immedi-
ately refer his thoughts to persons within his know-
ledge, who would be better off physically, and as far
as he can judge morally, in a state of absolute servi-
tude ; such persons, as are now sunk to the lowest
point of self-degradation. But would the responsi-
bility of the master cease in such a case ? Cer-
tainly not. It must be a law of morals, on which
I fear the slaveholder seldom reflects, that the mas-
ter who consigns a fellow-being to bondage neces-
sarily assumes his responsibilities, so far as he
controls him. And if this responsibility is great in
respect of the person who has already degraded
himself below a consciousness of moral perception ;
who would willingly incur it in the case of one,
possessed of all his faculties, in their full (though
untaught) vigour, and who, in favourable circum-
stances, would assert the dignity and independence
of an intelligent free agent.
Slavery must necessarily forbid the develop-
ment of the mental faculties — the chain which
surrounds the body must be drawn so tight as to
close every anenue to the mind, or the master
would not be secure. If we say the slave has not
capacity for greater development or greater en-
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
73
joyment than he obtains in slavery, we say it in
the face of inspiration, which declares that every
man shall render an account of the talents com-
mitted to his charge. If we bury a single talent
belonging to another, which but for our restraint
and control would have been improved by the
possessor, of us will he demand, to render his
account in the day of reckoning.
V. If the Bible teaches us that God permits
slavery, it also teaches us the accountability of the
master. Nowhere have we more striking proof
of the beneficent regard of the Creator for his erring
creatures, nor of his endeavors (if the expression
be allowable), for the preservation of their liberty
and happiness, than in the Mosaic history. Notwith-
standing the immediate and frequent revelations
which the Almighty gave to the Israelites — the
signal interposition of his providence in their de-
liverance from difficulty — and the impressive obli-
gations resting upon them to deal justly and love
mercy — he, their great legislator and guide, who
knew the character of man, in his positive insti-
tutions for their government, made a provision for
their welfare wholly unknown among human legis-
lators, and having a direct bearing upon their
social happiness and equal rights. This w7as the
institution of the Jubilee, at which period lands
were to revert to their former owners, and slaves
•to be emancipated. The design of this institution
is thus stated, by a learned commentator, forcibly
7
[
74
TO SLAVEHOLDERS,
showing the benevolence of the Creator, in provi-
ding checks to the natural propensities of men to
become tyrants or brutes.
" The reason and design of the Jubilee was
partly political and partly typical. It was politi-
cal to prevent too great oppression of the poor, as
well as their liability to perpetual slavery. By this
means the rich were prevented from accumulating
lands upon lands, and a kind of equality was pre-
served through all the families of Israel. Never
was there any people so effectually secure of their
liberty and property as the Israelites were, God
not only engaging so to protect those invaluable
blessings by his Providence, that they should not
be taken away from them by others, but providing
in a particular manner by this law, that they should
not be thrown away through their own folly, since
the property which every man or family had in
their dividend of the land of Canaan could not be
sold or any way alienated, for above half a cen-
tury."*
Every reader of the books of Moses must be
struck with the following reflections : —
First. That God intended the Israelites to be
equal in rights and privileges. All had an equal
interest in the division of the land of Canaan,
according to their families and numbers. No king
was appointed over them. Moses was merely a
deputy lawgiver under the Almighty, and the heads
* Home's Introduction, Art. Jubilee.
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
75
of tribes were honored as counsellors, without any-
superior share in the inheritance. It was a pure
republic, with provisions for its welfare and perma-
nence such as infinite wisdom only could make.
Second. Slavery (from among the heathen) was
tolerated, but under positive restrictions of not
more than fifty years' continuance ; at which
period also, lands sold were to revert to the origi-
nal proprietors.
Third. The melancholy proof of the depravity
and impiety of human nature,— in so soon forget-
ting the awful manifestations of Deity, by which
the giving of these lawTs was solemnized — in neg-
lecting that reverence and love of God, which a
sense of his goodness and protection should have
kept burning in their hearts — and, finally, in viola-
ting his positive commands, and utterly disregarding
the penalty annexed, thus daring the execution of
that penalty, which they have suffered to the utter-
most, and under the doom of w7hich they remain
to this day.
In connection with this it may be observed, that
the most fearful judgments, perhaps, in the whole
Bible, are denounced against oppressors ; those
who grind the face of the poor, and withhold from
the hireling his due. The most grievous calami-
ties, and especially the scattering of the Jews
among all nations, (Jer. xxxiv.) are particularly
threatened for their oppression, in not giving the
freedom promised and ordained in the law of
Moses. How far these threatenings are applicable
76
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
to modern slarery, is a question which fallible men
should be cautious in determining.
VI. I purpose now to take a brief survey of
slavery, with regard to its moral and political
aspect; for this is the only sure test of utility in
every human institution. I will not designedly
overcolour the picture, nor give it a single hue
which reality will not sanction. Every man, how-
ever humble, exerts an influence on society for
good or evil ; and every writer probably adds some-
thing to the aggregate of human happiness or
misery. In this belief, I would write nothing with-
out a deep-felt consciousness, that the eye of Omni-
science is upon me, and that for my words and
sentiments, and their influence upon the world, an
account must be rendered.
And first, the moral aspect of slavery as it is
developed in our own country. On this subject I
have no wish to go into detail. I will state some
of those prominent facts, which are known and read
of all men in a slave country — submitting to those in-
terested to judge the fairness of the statements, and
leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions.
The first question touching the morals of a com-
munity, is in respect to its religion. And the slaves
as a body must be without intelligent piety, for
they are without any learning. The laws gen-
erally— and I know not but in all the states — interdict
their being taught to read ; and even when it may
TO SLAVEH OLDERS.
77
perhaps be left to the discretion of the master, the
result is essentially the same.
Ignorance is always an attendant upon slavery.
Yet, while every advocate or apologist of slavery
must admit the necessity of this, enlightened piety
must deplore the consequences, in regarding them
as accountable beings. Reading is emphatically
the key of knowledge, and how ministers and
Christians can reconcile with the precepts of the
Bible, their taking away this key from one-half the
community of human beings, is beyond my com-
prehension. A land of Bibles, and one-half the
immortal souls not permitted to read it ! We de-
plore the biblical ignorance of the people in popish
countries — ought we not to lament the moral dark-
ness of our own? Surely Christian slavery gives
the strongest evidence of man's corruption and
depravity, for it virtually declares these to be more
influential in governing men than the Bible.
Hence the slave, whose only knowledge of religion
is derived from example and oral instruction, forms
his estimate of its value from its practical influ-
ence upon those around him. I fear this reflected
light from example would be so feeble, even from
the most pious community in the Union, as to be
but a very uncertain guide to the ignorant. There
are many persons in the south, who take an active
interest in the subject, and devote much time to
the oral instruction of the negro ; and no doubt the
ministers of the gospel generally encourage and
assist in the work: but whether they discharge all
7*
78
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
their duty to the slave, must be left to Omniscience
to decide. Very many of the slaves in the large
towns are regular attendants upon worship, and com-
municants in the church ; and most of the masters in
the country encourage their slaves to attend : and
although the number of attendants in the country,
so far as the writer's observation extended, is small,
he has been informed that this is by no means gen-
erally the case. Some masters practically en-
courage the desecration of the Sabbath, by requiring
six days' labour of the slaves; thus leaving them
only the seventh for the cultivation of their own
garden, and the performance of other necessary
duties ; but by far the greater number give them a
portion of time expressly for their own services
and duties, and most of these also discountenance
their labouring on the Sabbath.
Another feature characteristic of southern sla-
very is dishonesty— perhaps I should say pilfering —
and its sure concomitant, lying. Two facts which
are peculiar to the south will prove this statement.
First, almost every house is guarded by one or
more dogs — generally a pack — a great nuisance to
the traveller who is unaccustomed to such society —
extremely savage, and especially taught to seize
the negro in his night maraudings.
Secondly, every mistress or housekeeper in town
and country keeps her rooms locked, forbidding
entrance without permission. This practice ap-
pears to be reduced to a system, and vigilantly
attended to ; thus giving evidence that the danger
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
79
is not from without, as in cities, but from within. It
seems to be a household maxim, that servants are
not to be trusted. Having no liberty, no property
of his own, is it surprising that the slave should
tovel, and in his moral and mental ignorance ap-
propriate to his own use, something of the abund.
an^e wh eh surrounds him, or whatever accident
throws in hi> v ay, that may minister to his gra-
tification ? Naturally of a social disposition, but
denied by his situation from enjoying his propensity
during the day, his nights are frequently given to
visiting, frolicking, rambling, plundering.
But the darkest moral feature in the South is
licentiousness. It walks like the pestilence at noon-
day— lurks in every corner and by-way at night —
and nothing is free from its contamination. I am
satisfied but few slaveholders themselves know
the amount of this vice carried on among them.
Sensuality is a strong propensity in the negro, and
in his state of degradation, and in the absence of
mental pleasures, it is not wonderful that sensual
indulgence should have a strong dominion over
him. Besides, it cannot be questioned, that this vice
is often practically encouraged by his white supe-
riors ; and where every tie of family kindred is
liable to be broken at the will of the master — where
the slave is permitted to have no individual will,
but is personally and mentally subjected — where
passive acquiescence to the demands or wishes of
a superior may prove a source of mitigation of
evils — where all these are combined with the na-
80
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
tural inclination of the negro, what can prevent a
flood of pollution from pouring over the land.
Nothing can prevent it, but a strong sense of moral
principle ; and whether a state of domestic slavery
is more or less favourable to the formation and
exertion of such a principle, is submitted to the con-
sideration of slaveholders. From impressions on
the mind of the writer, he is confident that a little
observation and inquiry will give such a view of
the subject, as to make a moral man ashamed that
he belongs to the species. Pen should not write, a
virtuous mind should not for a moment retain ex-
pressions of deeds, of which men, called respectable,
openly boast.
And a southern slaveholder never ou^ht to utter
a word of reproach, or speak of amalgamation, in
connection with the free states. Were every black
there to be married to a white, the result would not
exhibit such a motley complexion, as the South now
presents, in open defiance of every moral and reli-
gious precept. The one might offend the estab-
lished rules of society ; the other outrages every sen-
timent of decency. You may very frequently at the
South see a black woman with two or three children,
each of a different coloured hue — such things pass
without observation as a matter of course. And I
have sometimes while traveling, asked the ques-
tion respecting a fellow-being before me, "is that
man black or white?" The answer was generally,
" he is a slave." And I need not allude to the end-
less variety of shades which meet the eye, in ob-
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
81
serving the coloured population, in all the cities of
the south. Leaving out of view entirely, the idea
of moral responsibility, what are the prospects of
such a state of society? Who can be secure, when
the very atmosphere is loaded with pestilence ? Who
can be surrounded with fire, and not be scorched?
What an introduction to manhood, have the youth
of such a society!
I know that many persons at the south, many
slaveholders, view this picture of society with dis-
may, and are anxiously looking for some ray of light
to break in upon the surrounding darkness. They
know that it is poisoning the fountains of morals,
and undermining the very foundations of society.
They know also that slavery is the procuring cause
of the evil, by placing the cup within the reach
of every individual, and that public opinion silently
acquiesces in the practice. In the frontier states,
these men have hope of removing the evil by des-
troying the cause ; but in the far south, where self-
interest, worldly prosperity, the climate and habits
of society, combine to perpetuate slavery, some of
these men do not hesitate to express a belief, that
slavery is destined to take a terrible revenge — not
by insurrection, but by amalgamation — the black
swallowing up the white.
VII. Secondly. — The influence of slavery, with
respect to individual and national prosperity, were
there no other objection to slavery, I would urge
emancipation upon the master from motives of
82
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
political economy alone. No country or state ever
was or can be permanently prosperous, where the
mass of the population are slaves. That slavery is
contrary to the original designs of the Creator, and
the established laws which govern the world of
mind, is sufficiently proved from its unprofitable-
ness. We need not appeal to history or human
science for the proof of these propositions. That
slave-labour is necessarily unproductive, must be
evident to the most common reflection. As a
general principle, with rare exceptions, no man
will exert himself to do any thing without an object
in prospect, and every man's exertion and perse-
verance will be in proportion to the value he
places upon that object. Now, on this common
sense principle, what motive has the slave to
labour ? He is a mere passive instrument in the
hands of another : he has no voice in the direction,
no profit in the result of his labour : he will have
his food and clothing, although the cattle destroy
the corn ; he will have no more, although it yields
an hundred fold.*
He has no attachment to the soil except from
* Upon reading this chapter to a slaveholder from an
agricultural district, he objected to the above, stating, that in
his neighbourhood, there was a very manifest rivalry among
the slaves of different plantations, to make the best crop of
cotton, and a feeling of pride among those that succeeded.
I very cheerfully give his statement a place, and should be
happy to learn that the same was true of the slave states
extensively.
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
83
habit ; and the force of his application is a com-
pact between his sluggish indifference and the
value he sets upon the ill or good will of his
master. He has no motive to be saving or econo-
mical; for every thing around him belongs to
another. He is a machine impelled by extraneous
force — just like a watch, which will go as long
as it is wound up; and, like a watch, the slave
must be wound up every day; he must have
his orders daily, and must have a command
repeated every time a certain service is required,
although it may be only " to wTater the horse," or
" shut the gate." His want of care, his negligence
and forgetfulness, are complete — established traits
of character. Of consequence, a great deal of his
labour, inefficient as it is, is unproductive, or ren-
dered of no avail.
It is a common remark of those persons ac-
quainted with slave-labour, and northern free-
labour, that their proportion is as one to two. This
is not too great an estimate in favour of the free
labourer ; and the circumstances of their situation
produce a still greater disparity. The absence of
motive, and the consequent want of mental energy
to give vigor to the arm of the slave, is the source
of another great drawback upon the usefulness of
his labour. His implements or tools are at least
one-third (in some instances more than twofold)
heavier and stronger than the northern man's, to
counteract his want of skill and interest in his
work. A negro hoe or scythe would be a curi-
osity to a New England farmer. Of course the
S4
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
extra exertion required in the use of these tools, is
a deduction from the profit of his labour. All his
manufacturing and repairing, except regular trades-
men, of which there are some respectable workmen
at the South, are of the rudest kind ; and a northern
man, seeing his heavy cart attached to a mule, with
the relics of a harness, kept together by cords and
straps, is at once led to reflect upon the probable
advancement the American negro has made in
meehanical ingenuity over his brethren on the banks
of the Goliba.
There is another view of this subject to be taken
also, in the light of political economy ; and that is
the influence of slavery upon the white population.
Some writer has said " every man is as lazy as he
can be ;" but the remark should be taken with the
same limitation as that, in which the inspired
Psalmist called " all men liars ;" he said it " in his
haste." Notwithstanding, there is one denuncia-
tion in the Bible, which mankind, in all ages and
countries, have regarded with peculiar dislike, and
used all their efforts to shun. There is indeed,
comparatively, a few who have looked upon this
denunciation as a blessing in disguise, and have
therefore cheerfully acquiesced in it ; but their num-
ber has always been so small, and they themselves
adjudged by the world to be a class of old-fashioned,
mean-spirited beings, that they have made very
few converts to their faith or practice. The pas-
sage alluded to may be found in one of the first
chapters of Genesis, and reads thus — " in the sweat
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
85
of thy face shalt thou eat bread," which in modern
paraphrase is generally understood to mean, "thou
shalt work for a living." Of all the punishments
inflicted or threatened upon man by his Creator,
this appears to be regarded as the greatest, and
men have exercised every ingenuity to escape it.
But there is no reason to believe that southern
men or slaveholders are sinners above all others
in this respect ; for the New Englander has at
heart as great a horror of the spade and hoe : but
the former has a great advantage over the latter
in situation, being supplied with a plenty of other
hands, in the sweat of whose faces, instead of his
own, he eats bread. The wealthy planter need
not work, and does not, neither does the wealthy
northern farmer. On lands fertile in soil, and
large in extent, he can bid defiance to Franklin's
maxim, —
" Whoever by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive" —
as he has one or two grades of officers between
himself and the labourer ; and therefore takes but
little interest in the detail of his great estate. Be-
tween these proprietors of the first class, and those
whites who are absolutely poor, there are a num-
ber of grades which, in proportion to the quality of
their lands and the number of their slaves, are en-
abled to live more or less at their ease, in respect to
worldly competence. But most of these take some
8
86
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
direct and daily interest in the management of their
estates.
A class of these, in moderate rather than affluent
circumstances, probably enjoy life with more real
satisfaction, than any other. With a few negroes,
not more than they can personally superintend, and
not enough to preclude the necessity of their con-
stant supervision, and assistance in labour — they
work almost as regular and perseveringly as the
New England farmer. Many of this class are also
wise enough to bring their sons up to labour — take
them into the field, and put. them side by side with
the slave. This is the most virtuous and truly
independent class of southern men, the true lords
of the soil — the strong framework of society. In
all these classes, except perhaps the highest, the
negligence and carelessness of the negro requires
a degree of vigilance, and causes an amount of
anxiety, which makes a large deduction from the
ease of the master.
And besides, the fixed habits of the negro have
exerted a powerful influence to the master's injury.
The latter seems from a kind of necessity to have
accommodated himself to the slovenly course of
the slave. There appears to be a great want of
method, and destitution of energy in almost every
thing about him. His inclosed fields are too large
for profitable culture; his pastures generally open
in commons ; his fences rude and out of repair ;
and his buildings and tools, and vehicles, not of the
best construction for available profit. There is an
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
87
appearance of want of thrift generally, which strikes
an observer from the old states of the north, as
evidence that there is some cause operating exten-
sively against the inhabitants, preventing them from
reaping the natural benefits of their situation, with
respect to climate, 'soil, and local advantages.
But there is another class of whites, equal per-
haps to all the others in number, upon which slavery-
has had an indirect but decided influence. In a
country where slaves perform all or nearly all the
work, it cannot be expected that labour will be
considered respectable ; and this public sentiment
of the rich operates with fatal influence upon the
energy of the poor man. By a poor man is meant
one too indigent to own slaves. As a general fact,
they are unwilling to be hired, to go into the field
with the slave. Some of them are overseers or
managers for the planters, a situation I believe in
which few accumulate property. Many of them
possess considerable tracts of land (which is very
cheap) from which, in the vicinity of navigable
waters, they carry considerable quantities of wood
to market. Many of them near the large towns
are small gardeners, others are sailors, boatmen^
fishermen, — while great numbers probably depend
more on their dogs and guns, and female industry,
for support, than any regular business. As a body,
so far as the writer can judge, the class of poor
whites are ignorant. Great numbers even in the
Old Dominion can neither read nor write. In this
respect, however, there is a better prospect for the
88
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
children. And I need not prove, that as a body,
the poor class of whites in the slave states are
vicious, if rum drinking, profanity, and laziness
entitle men to that appellation. To what extent
the effects here spoken of are to be attributed to
slavery, must be left for others to decide.
VIII. I shall probably be met here with the
assertion, that the South, even with its slave labour,
produces three fourths of all the exports of the
country ; and shall be asked how this fact is recon-
cilable with the wastefulness of that labour, and the
poverty it tends to produce.
This will bring us to a consideration of the
influence of slavery, in respect to political economy.
The fact is conceded, that the states of the South
produce most of the exports of the nation in numer-
ical amount; but it does not thence follow, that
these states are adding to individual and national
prosperity in the same proportion. Slavery and
slave labour are inherently the same in all parts of
the world, but various circumstances modify their
influence in different states and countries. In
Alabama and Louisiana slave labour is more valua-
ble than in Virginia — not because the slave is more
industrious or less wasteful — but because the arti-
cles he produces are more profitable. In many
parts of Virginia, a slave in cultivating corn will
hardly produce his own support; take the same
slave to Mississippi, and with the same time and
exertion of labour in producing cotton, he would
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
89
be worth annually several hundred dollars clear
profit. Evidently then, the advantage is not in the
slave, but in his situation.
The South, from its local position, possesses a
monopoly of one of the greatest staples of traffic
in the commercial world. Its virgin soil produces
cotton in abundance, and the demand for the arti-
cle in all the manufacturing districts of Europe
and America, in this age of universal peace, and
improvements in the arts, sustains a price which
affords an enormous profit. It has been stated that
the labour of a slave in producing cotton or sugar,
would in two or three years amount to his value,
1000 or 1500 dollars.
Much is said at this day about national prosper-
ity, but without definition, it is a mere abstract
term, and has no political meaning. If by national
prosperity is meant, the useful and profitable em-
ployment of all the individuals of a nation; and at
the same time suitable provision for increase of
population, then the expression has a very significant
meaning. If the individuals of a nation are pros-
perous, it will be a prosperous nation of course.
That the cotton states produce national prosperity
in this sense, by adding to the profitable employ-
ment of individuals, is very true ; but the least part
of this prosperity is realized at the south. Let us
enter into an examination of this statement. In
conformity with southern usage, we shall consider
the whites alone as population or individuals,
leaving the slaves entirely out of view, as passive
8*
90
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
agents, or mere cattle. Now, how the planter can
be said to be usefully or profitably employed — in
cultivating a square mile of cotton with 200 labour-
ers,— thus absorbing the means of sustaining 100
individuals, I do not see. With all this estate he
can live in but one house, eat and drink, and sleep
for one, and enjoy life only as an individual. True?
he may travel, possess fine equipages, be clothed
like a prince, and spend money like a prodigal —
but this does not improve his land, add to his re-
sources, nor make room for an increase of popu-
lation.
Again, the cotton which he produces (without
other human agents) is carried to New or Old
England, and in the process of manufacture em-
ploys 100 persons, or 20 families; each of which
must have a house to live in ; and must have food
and clothing, giving useful employment to many
others. Now which possesses the greatest resour-
ces of prosperity, the plantation of the cotton culti-
vator, or the place (suppose the same extent of
territory) where the cotton is manufactured | The
former contains a population of one or two fami-
lies, and one or two houses ; the latter contains
a population of twenty families, in twenty houses,
with plenty of vacant room for more, the price of
which is continually advancing, as new houses are
called for: as the number of manufacturing opera-
tives is increased, the demand for other mechanics
is extended, and the increased consumption of
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
91
agricultural products greatly enhances the value
and price of land.
Now let us enlarge the scale, without changing
the principle. On ten thousand square miles of
territory are five thousand cotton planters — assu-
ming that the cotton land of each is one half of his
estate or plantation — having splendid houses to live
in — immensely rich — and with every luxury at
command which money will purchase, or man has
a capacity to enjoy. On the other hand, on ten
thousand square miles are forty thousand families,
and although not living in the same splendour — use-
fully and profitably employed. In the latter case,
the activity of the people, and the increase and
facilities of business invite population ; the very
circumstances of the former repel it. Now w7hich
of these communities adds most to the wealth and
strength of a nation? In case of war, which
would most likely be attacked? That where
wealth was concentrated in a few hands, or that
where conquest would afford the least plunder in
proportion to the inhabitants, and where an attack
would be opposed by a greater force ? In which
of these communities will there probably be the
greatest improvement and skill in the useful arts :
the most activity, industry, and physical and
mental energy 1 Which of them will most proba-
bly establish and sustain schools, and become an
intelligent community ?
If the foregoing contrast is founded on facts and
reason, the southern planter may see the direct
92
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
tendency and result of the system on which he
acts. His productions are a source of great
national prosperity (in a nation so extensive and
various as ours), but unfortunately they benefit him-
self and his part of the nation the least.* The
cotton states add immensely more to the wealth*
resources, and strength of England, than they do
to themselves — but this is no fault of the former,
rather their own. She is pursuing a course which
invites an increase of active population; and which
gives momentum and energy to every branch of
industry — every department of science ; they repel
such population. Hence they pay an exorbitant
tax for the services of transient mechanics and
merchants, who retire to spend their profits else-
where. The grand secret is the difference in their
* The aggregate of southern exports is immense in annual
amount — so many millions for cotton — so many for rice?
sugar, and tobacco. But it is easily demonstrable that the
amount of northern agricultural production, independent of
her commerce and manufactures, exceeds that of the South,
even in proportion to her population. This is true of the
two sections taken as a whole, or of any particular portions
compared together. For instance, the annual amount of pro-
duction of western New-York or Ohio, from the forest, the
grass and grain fields, the pastures and gardens, will exceed
the amount from an equal territory, selected from any portion
of the South. The great difference is, the productions of the
latter are sent abroad, while those of the latter are consumed
at home ; and, therefore, not so tangible or visible, except in
the progressive improvement, and rise and accumulation of
property in the immediate section itself.
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
93
systems. The manufacturing country (if free) must
necessarily expand itself. The system of the South
will not bear expansion.
And this system is alike unfavourable to the
development of internal resources, of physical and
moral power. With their monopoly of products,
and fertility of soil, the states of the South ought to
be the richest in the world. Those on the Gulf of
Mexico possess a mine in these respects, which
might produce wealth enough to plate their surface
with silver. But the blessings of Providence are
poured into their lap in such profusion, that frail
human nature is incapable of making the best use
of them. They spend their immense incomes in
personal accomplishments, in personal enjoyments,
in lordly munifience. Each man is for himself,
living and enjoying in his isolated grandeur; never
dreaming that there is any bottom to the fertility
of his soil, or limit to his pleasures. His individual
(personal) prosperity is apparently unbounded and
enviable. But it is delusive. He is, politically, like
a man in a balloon, sailing at an amazing elevation
above the rest of the world, but liable every mo-
ment to be dashed down to earth. His children
are not so likely to be taught the value of time, of
money, of character, of morals, of physical energy.
One certain result of that indolence and luxurious
mode of living, consequent upon the sudden influx
and increase of wrealth in a family or state, is to
effeminate the physical powers, deteriorating man
more and more in every successive generation.
94
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
Rome in her richest days was in similar circum-
stances to the states enjoying this monopoly, and
she sunk under the burden. Central Italy was too
much occupied in war, and her freemen were too
proud to labour, while the necessaries and luxuries
of life were profusely supplied by the distant pro-
vinces. These, although possessed by the wealthy
patricians of Rome, were cultivated by slaves so de-
graded and brutalized, as to offer no resistance
even to barbarian invaders. Hence, between the
luxurious effeminacy of the masters, and the despic-
able condition of the labourers, the empire became
an easy and an inviting prey.
But a more exact parallel may be drawn between
these states and the mining countries of Mexico
and South America. So utterly subversive of all
moral principle, and all physical energy, is the
acquisition of great wealth without personal effort,
that these countries, although possessing the very
fountains of money — whence the streams flow all
over the world — are among the weakest in power,
and the most abandoned in morals : while the
passion for gold, absorbing all other passions and
interests, has entirely paralysed the energies of
the mother country, and in twro centuries, almost
completely prostrated one of the proudest and
most powerful states in Christendom. I do not
say the South would ever descend so low in the
scale of moral and mental degradation as these
states — it is in a great measure free from their
ignorance, and from the influence of a corrupt,
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
95
irresponsible priesthood ; but the tendency of its
system — the accumulation of the wealth of the
state — and that wealth immense in comparatively
a few hands, is precisely the same ; and, unless hu-
man nature is changed, must lead to the same
result.
IX. Now, permit me to ask the southern planter
if it would not be better for him, better for his
state and section, better for the nation, and better
in every point of view, to divide his twelve
hundred acres, or two square miles of land, into
farms of one hundred acres each, and farm it
out to twelve men or families. By giving them
long leases (on the English system), these tenants
would have a direct interest in preserving the
fertility of the rich, and replenishing the exhausted
soils ; and by actual personal inspection of the
whole — and that prudent economical management
which men generally exercise in their own con-
cerns— greatly increase the amount of production.
If, by this means, the planter should obtain the
same income from his estate that he does at pre-
sent, and at the same time his estate should sup-
port twelve other industrious families, would he
not enhance the value of his own property, and
add to the resources of his community 1
By being relieved of the responsibility and anxi-
ety of watching and directing one or two hundred
idle, wasteful, and refractory hands, would he not
be happier ? As long as he remains isolated in his
i Hi
96
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
present situation, he cannot improve his property.
He will wear out and exhaust, but will not re-
plenish. He will be behind the age in construct-
ing internal improvements for the public good.
Old Virginia will show him by ocular proof the
inevitable result of his own system. She practised
it on a soil, perhaps somewhat originally inferior
to that of Alabama, and a hundred and fifty
years has exhausted her entirely. Let him go
to the North, and examine the condition of the
same extent of land as his own plantation, — see
the number of inhabitants on it — the industrious
competition continually active — and he may at
once see the reason why real estate is continually
advancing in all the old free states, and actually
declining in the old settled parts of the slave states.
He may easily tell the reason why Massachusetts,
with its bogs, and rocks, and cold climate, would
sell in market for more money than old Virginia,
with her double population, her eightfold extent,
her navigable waters, and unrivalled situation.
Let him compare their systems of operation, and
he will see further, that if the population of Mas-
sachusetts were placed in Virginia, it would, in a
few years, resuscitate the exhaustion of her mari-
time section, tunnel her mountains to the Ohio, and
bring to light the inexhaustible mineral wealth
hidden in her interior. He would see, that one-
fourth of the population of Virginia, carrying with
them the Virginia system, spread all over the
former state, would soon perish with famine.
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
97
In stating this contrast, I have made but slight
reference to the question of morals, or of human
rights. But they must enter deeply into every
question affecting the welfare of society. That
luxury and pride, idleness and haughty independ-
ence, almost certainly follow the acquisition
of sudden wealth, requires no proof. Impiety
to God, and hard-heartedness to man, follow in
the train. That the morals of the South are not
too deeply imbued with that spirit of meekness and
forbearance which the Bible inculcates, is evident
from the number of gentlemanly assassinations in
affrays and duels which so frequently occur.
With regard to human rights, there are some per-
sons who would be inclined to ask in their simpli-
city whether it is right for one man to make two
hundred fellow-beings, (perhaps as honest, as vir-
tuous, as capable of improvement as himself),
labour, that he may spend their earnings accord-
ing to his pleasure. And the time will come when
this question will be asked at the South, not in
corners and whispers, but openly and loudly,
and all over the South. And the social agitation
which will accompany this inquiry, will give the
people new eyes to see things, which, although
lying on the very surface of society, unyielding
prejudice has hither prevented them from seeing.
I invoke the hastening of this period from motives
of sincere regard for the best interests and welfare
of the South.
9
98
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
X. And here, I am aware the slaveholder may,
perhaps, plead the unfairness of this contrast so far
as slavery is concerned, and contend that the
manufacturing section, when densely populated,
will produce a class of labourers, poor, ignorant,
and debased — slaves in every thing but the name.
Candour must admit that this plea is not without
weight. It has weight. The tendency of large
manufactories is the same as large slave planta-
tions, viz. to absorb the wealth of the state, and
place it in a few hands. And whenever the manu-
facturers should outnumber the agricultural popu-
lation, the result would be a controlling influence
of an irresponsible, wealthy aristocracy. Experi-
ence proves that the influence of manufacturing
upon labourers is bad ; as a class they are ex-
ceedingly improvident, and the peculiar circum-
stances of their situation, fosters ignorance,
licentiousness, and intemperance. In view of this,
the legislatures of some of the states have enacted
laws compelling the education of the children.
By banishing ardent spirits, also, the rapid descent
of this class to abject poverty and degradation will
be arrested. But as soon as the demand for manu-
facturing labourers shall be exceeded by the supply,
competition will reduce the wages to a bare sub-
sistence, and then the employer will control the
labourer, almost without responsibility: for what
is now common, viz. so great a degree of poverty,
as to be unable to remove a family from one factory
to another, will then be nearly universal. Nothing
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
99
but law and public opinion will then interpose in
favour of the labourer, and these have always been
a very feeble barrier to wealthy aggression. If
the remark of an English manufacturer to the
writer is to be credited, the females in the English
factories are as much in the power of their masters
as the southern slave, and perhaps as vicious.
And yet at the worst, there is an immeasurable
distance between the slave and free labourer. The
former is entirely passive, the latter voluntary.
No ray of mental light can reach the slave. If he
could see his chains, he would make an effort to
break them. But the freeman has liberty to rise,
and may surmount the hardships of his state, and
become a prominent man in society. The institu-
tions of the state, and public sentiment, both invite
him to educate his children. There is no obliga-
tion to hinder him from leaving his employment at
any moment, but such as he has imposed upon him-
self. If he is not a slave to vice, the most grievous
of all slavery, there is always hope of his rising in
the world. Actual slavery destroys its victim at
once, and is no worse in generations — but the
descent and degradation of the free labourer is gra-
dual, and is frequently a long period in reaching
its ultimate depression. I cannot conceive an
obtuseness of intellect so great, as not to perceive
a radical difference between the two cases.
But there is no necessity or propriety in drawing
a comparison between the slave and the manufac-
turing labourer. I bespeak no indulgence, and shun
I
100
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
no responsibilities, in declaring (from actual know-
ledge of both) that the lower class of whites at the
South are as poor, as ignorant, as vicious, to say
the least, as the labouring operatives in the northern
manufactories. Taken as an average, as a body,
or as individuals, the latter will not suffer in com-
parison.
In leaving this part of the subject, I wish to
make a few observations to prevent misapprehen-
sions respecting what has been stated of the south-
ern system of labour.
Nothing in the foregoing remarks was intended
to bear, in the least, against the great business of
the South — but against the mode of conducting it.
The Almighty Disposer, who allots to men their
destiny in this life, has evidently designed these
states to be agricultural; and in their fertility,
facilities of production, and in a monopoly of
cotton, they are indebted to Him for a source of
w7ealth, an amount and aggregate of profit, which
no other community ever possessed. They only
need to avail themselves of the best plan of opera-
tions for applying their resources to this business,
to be immensely rich and powerful. The product
is immense, and so is the profit: both might be
increased. But it would seem they are dissatis-
fied with their circumstances, and aim at grasping
the business of their northern neighbours. Let them
be reminded of the fable — " of the dog carrying the
meat over the river." If I were an enemy to the
South, I would encourage the "plan" to render
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
101
themselves " independent of the North," by export-
ing their own produce and importing their own
goods. That they can buy goods as cheap in
England or France, as northern merchants, cannot
be doubted ; but that they can build ships and
carry on commerce, and diffuse foreign merchan-
dize through the interior, as cheap as can be done
at the North, is out of the question, unless they can
anticipate a period of fifty years; for to this
amount of time, the North are ahead of them, in
these respects : and it is but a poor compliment to
themselves, to suppose the North has any design of
injuring the South, in her manufactures or com-
merce. The North was driven to extend her inter-
est in these by the force of circumstances. The
poverty of her soil, and the severity of her climate
compelled her increasing population to seek other
channels of active business; and it was only by
perseverance against obstacles, and by a gradual
progress, that her commerce and manufactures
reached their present elevation. The increase of
these, naturally led to the construction of canals
and railroads. But none of these great enterprizes
can be successfully carried on without a dense
population. This is also necessary, in order to
develop the internal resources of a state. Has the
South so far extended her cultivation, that she can
spare labourers to dig the ore and w7ork iron, to
build ships, to man them, to manufacture goods,
which she now receives from the North? If not,
then she will not succeed any better in extending
9#
i t
102
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
her commerce and manufactures, than would the
middle states, in endeavouring to cultivate their
own cotton. Each would be out of the sphere
in which Providence evidently designed it to act.
But perhaps the South covet the profits of the North.
Let them rather take good care of their own. I
am no merchant, but will guaranty that the im-
porters, ship owners, manufacturers, and merchants
of New York, will exchange profits on the capital
invested in their employments, for the profits on
an equal amount invested in cotton cultivation. If
the South are fearful of becoming " dependent" let
them make the proposition. This " plan" before
mentioned seems to be started as an offsett to north-
ern abolition. The scheme is entirely worthy of
that which gave it birth : and I cannot but hope
and believe, for the best good of the country, and
the whole country, that either will be discounte-
nanced and abandoned before it involves its own
section of the Union in disaster and distress.
XL It may not be improper, after giving my
views of slavery and slaveholding, to offer the
South some information respecting the state of
public sentiment at the North. On this point, a
right understanding is of immense importance. A
spirit of jealousy and suspicion is awrakened in
each section of the Union, leading to crimination
and threatening ; and this arises chiefly from igno-
rance of each other's views and circumstances. It
was a principal object of the writer in commencing
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
103
this appeal, to remove this ignorance, and if possi-
ble make the great mass of the people on each side
better acquainted with each other. If this is
effected, there is hope that the question may be
amicably settled. I have often thought it must be
difficult for the people of the South to form any
correct opinion of northern feeling on this subject,
from the various and contradictory statements of
the press. One will aver that abolitionits are
silenced : another will declare they are increasing.
One states that the North is sound on this subject,
and the slaveholder has nothing to fear ; another
comes out boldly, and connecting the subject of
free discussion, declares that the North are all for
abolition.
The fact is, the free states, as a people, have not
yet spoken on this subject. They are a deliberate,
thinking community, not easily excited ; and there
is no great question of universal and absorbing
interest like slavery among them, to draw out
public sentiment. I will venture, as an individual,
to make two statements, as facts, respecting the
people of the free states.
First. They generally, almost universally, hold
slavery in abhorrence. This is the settled feeling
and conviction of their hearts. They believe it to
be cruel wrong to the slave, and as far as they have
information, believe it to be deeply injurious to the
masters. These are their views respecting slavery
in the abstract — slavery everywhere. These are
the reasons which influenced them to abolish it
104
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
among themselves, and which will always deter-
mine them to reject it.
Second. I believe there is a firmly settled con-
viction, that it would be wrong for them to take
any steps to enforce abolition at the South. In
addition to their convictions of a moral nature on
this subject, there is a very general belief that in
the compact of our government, slavery was fairly
though tacitly recognized, and left to the exclusive
control and action of the several states respectively.
Just in this position they are now inquiring what
is their duty with respect to any action on the sub-
ject; and even if the South should now dissolve
the Union, they would still inquire and deliberate,
although that event would probably hasten their
decision, and also, probably change its character.
If asked, whether abolition is increasing, I should
answer, yes.# The numerous abolition societies,
* Since the above was written, circumstances have taken
place which require the answer to this question to be some-
what modified. For a year past, the mobbing of abolition-
ists has been a rare occurrence, and so far as the limited
observation of the writer has extended, the consequences
have not been favourable to the growth of immediate aboli-
tion. The cause of that incitement, which persecution always
gives to a feeble party in a free, intelligent community, being
thus removed, the abolitionists appear to be falling out
among themselves, and earnestly intent upon discovering the
true Solomons of the party. It is to be hoped for the honour
of our country, and the cause of free discussion, that such
disgraceful scenes will no more be enacted. If left to stand
or fall on their own merits, the good sense of the people will
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
105
and the increase of petitions to Congress, are
sufficient evidence of the fact; but there is no
proof in this that the North will ever attempt to
force abolition. Nor is there any proof within the
knowledge of the writer, that any abolitionists have
this object in view. As a body they entirely dis-
claim it. Some of the most elevated men in the
free states, elevated as Christians, as statesmen, as
philanthropists, men who are favourably known on
both sides of the Atlantic, are decided abolitionists
in sentiment, and unequivocally disclaim the thought.
The abolitionists disclaim the use of any weapons
but those of persuasion and moral force. They
have adopted the plan of affiliated societies, which
is one of the peculiar features of the age, and
adopted by all sorts of interests. As a means of
spreading their sentiments, and enlightening public
opinion, they employ agents to lecture on the sub-
ject, and distribute their publications. They take
the ground, that every subject among a free people
is open to investigation — that it is evidence of a
bad cause to shun the light — and that good insti-
tutions are never afraid to have the foundation on
which they stand thoroughly examined. When
questioned respecting their object, they answer that
public opinion requires to be enlightened on the
subject. When the North is brought to view
slavery in its proper light — in other words, as they
pass a verdict upon the measures of the abolitionists, which,
whether it be condemnation or approval, will be final ; and
in that verdict every good citizen will acquiesce.
1
10(>
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
view it — they expect that its influence will be felt
with such weight at the South as to procure volun-
tary abolition.
In all this, there is nothing illegal, and if left to
themselves, public sentiment at the North will pass
a righteous verdict upon their designs and mea-
sures. But their numbers have been increased,
and their influence extended by the short-sighted
zeal and the reproaches of their opponents. Per-
secution has added tenfold to their societies, and
has brought the subject home to the reflection of
tenfold more who never gave it reflection. It is
astonishing that the light of all history should be
lost upon the present age. Persecution never failed
in a free country to build up a sect or party, which
differed from the majority in matters of opinion
not amenable to the laws. I should fear the spread
of Mohammedanism, in this country, were one of
that belief located among us to be ridiculed and
persecuted, because he chose to pray in the streets
with his face towards Mecca.
Apply these observations to facts respecting
abolitionists. Look at New York, Boston, and
Utica, where the violence of mobs was put in re-
quisition to break up their meetings. In all these
places they have increased tenfold, and can now
meet, and say, and do what they please, and pub-
lish their proceedings without fear. It is a principle
of republicanism, which the North will adhere to,
while she is worthy of freedom, that truth and error
are to be left to combat each other in open field.
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
107
While on this subject, I wish to disabuse the
South on one point. The great excitement in the
slave states, a few years ago, was followed by-
meetings in various parts of the North, disclaiming
all connection with the abolitionists, and denounc-
ing them as disunionists, disturbers of the peace,
&c. This was one of the most ridiculous farces
ever enacted in a civilized community. The osten-
sible object was to convince the South that the
North was not hostile to slavery ; the real design
was to save the southern market, for the sale of
patent yankee notions. The writer is acquainted
in some of the places where these patriotic meetings
were held, and he doubts not if the views of the
persons assembled had been honestly expressed,
the preambles to their resolutions would have com-
menced with the speech of the silversmith of
Ephesus, (Acts xxv. 19) — whereas, " sirs, ye
know that, by this craft, we have our wealth."
Every high-minded man will respect those manu-
facturers more (and such there are), who are open,
avowed abolitionists.
XII. Much has been said and written between
the North and South, since this controversy began,
respecting its ultimate tendency ; and the separa-
tion of the Union has been repeatedly and loudly
threatened. This subject will be noticed in a fu-
ture page ; but I beg the privilege of offering a few
suggestions on this head for the reflection of south-
ern men — leaving to their judgment, both the wis-
108
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
dom of the suggestions and the motives which
prompted them.
The threatenings alluded to have generally come
from the South, and some persons have been led to
fear that the country was rapidly verging to such
a catastrophe. But recent observation has con-
vinced me that many northern men are making up
their minds to this event, and that the North will
accept the dissolution, if it must come, without
reluctance. From such a period to our national
union, may Heaven preserve us.
But the most important suggestion I have to
offer the South, is — preserve the Union, preserve it
at any sacrifice. I do not hesitate to say, preserve
it at the expense of slavery. It will be the less of
twro evils. It is for your interest, at least as much
as for the North, to preserve it. Both sections might
undoubtedly exist as independent nations, but they
could not long exist in peace. Neither individuals
nor communities can be aware of the ultimate con-
sequences of measures adopted in times of great
excitement. Suffer no sudden ebullition of feeling
to commit acts which cannot be rescinded, or to
take steps which cannot be retraced. A subject of
greater importance, more deeply, perhaps vitally,
affecting the best interests of man, probably never
agitated the world. Before deciding upon declar-
ing or even accepting a separation of the Union,
look into futurity, and ponder the result. Be sure
that the great objects, for which you would barter
the Union, would be attained. The South cannot
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
109
avoid an investigation of the merits of slavery.
Whether welcome or not, she must grapple the
public opinion of the age on this question. Can she
go through this struggle alone, better than as a
co-equal branch of the Union 1 Again, will disunion
give security to 'the possession of her slaves in
peace ? These are points which should be deeply
and thoroughly weighed.
A breach like this, once effected, can never be
healed. As soon as divided, the North and South
are enemies. Even, if an amicable adjustment of
national interests could be produced, — wThieh is a
supposition verging upon the very borders of im-
possibility— peace could not long be preserved.
Unpleasant recollections would be deepened into
feelings of distrust, irritation would be changed to
bitter enmity. Thousands of men, unworthy the
likeness of humanity, would make it a business to
stir up dissention, that they might reap a golden
harvest, though steeped in blood. A civil or an
international w7ar between the North and South,
would be conducted with a murderous strife.
Even now7, the feelings of the great body of the
people on both sides, are far from being as friendly
as they ought. The South will not easily forget
the cause of the abolition excitement ; and on the
other side the treatment of some northern men in
Tennessee, in Georgia, and elsewhere, has pro-
duced deep feelings in the public mind.
The South may be assured, that it is an entirely
gratuitous suspicion, which supposes the North to
10
no
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
be unfriendly to her interests. The South may be
assured that the North rejoices in her prosperity.
The great interests of both, although not identical,
are reciprocal ; and it is susceptible of proof, that
they are mutually dependent upon, and flourish by
the aid of each other. The North is engrossed in
active enterprize, to which her situation and her
industrious habits both impel her — and is too busy
about her own concerns, to devise schemes for
injuring the South ; and if the latter would put her
heads and hands to the like active enterprize, she
would have less time, and less inclination, to indulge
in suspicion that the North was endeavouring to
cripple or undermine her prosperity.
I have no hesitation in repeating what has been
frequently said, that the North has no disposition
to do injustice to the South. But still, if the former
believe that justice requires freedom for the slave,
and the latter by the same term understand a right
to keep him in bondage, there is a radical difference
of opinion between them ; and nothing but the
wisest deliberation, joined with forbearance and
Christian principle, and aided by God's mercy, can
ever settle the question in an amicable manner.
XIII. In closing this chapter, I will take the
liberty to state my views as an individual, respect-
ing the result of this controversy. In view of the
circumstances and opinions of the age, affecting
slavery in the civilized world, there are evident
indications that it will be abolished. Do not at-
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
Ill
tribute this belief to the spirit of abolition. I do
not even give this opinion as a northern man,
actuated by feelings of opposition to the South.
Many of my prejudices were softened and removed
by an actual interview wTith slavery. I came from
that interview? impressed with a conviction, that
the slaves wrere better off than their forefathers
ever were in Africa ; better off, as a body, than
they would be, if emancipated and turned loose
upon southern society — and with the strongest con-
viction, that they were in every respect an injury
to their masters.
But I came from that interview — opposed to
slavery ; because the spirit of the age in the middle
of the nineteenth century demands that the Ameri-
can negro should be placed in a situation to culti-
vate his moral and intellectual being — because
slavery is detrimental to the moral, civil, and phy-
sical interests of the master — and because it is
utterly opposed to the spirit of American liberty.
Were I in Europe I could defend slavery upon
the broad principles of legal enactments, and the
customs of all ages; but, as an honest man, I could
not defend it, in the face of Jefferson's Declaration.
American slavery — after all our protestations of
freedom, and boast of man9s equality — is gross
inconsistency.
With these views, although from the relative
situation and condition of the North it will doubt-
less have a powerful influence in producing this
result (emancipation), I believe it would take place,
112
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
were the free states blotted out of existence. The
spirit of Christianity and of civilization is against
it. The South will not always be able to with-
stand the light which is pouring all around her.
She now laughs to scorn the incipient advances
of the enemy ; and, mighty in her opinion of right,
defies its power ; but she has not yet grappled the
giant. She has closed her doors, and looks out
from the window, in imagined safety ; but she
knows not the subtlety of the foe. He comes in
every wind, lurks in every corner: he presents
himself to the eye, the ear, to every avenue of the
understanding. The attempt to arrest the course
of public opinion, will be like rolling back the stone
of Sysiphus. The impulse which has been given
to the spirit of freedom across the Atlantic, by the
example of our institutions, is now re-echoed upon
our shores, and points directly to slavery. Its
voice is louder and louder. Almost all Protestant
and Catholic Europe is against it. And in Europe
our great national charter is understood to mean
what it says. And surely it is pardonable to be-
lieve there is an inconsistency in declaring all men
to be born " free and equal/' and keeping one-fifth
of these free and equal born in hopeless bondage.
Perhaps the inconsistency appears more glaring
from the fact, that some of the greatest American
statesmen have utterly condemned the practice.
Europe knows what Thomas Jefferson and Henry
Clay have said of slavery, — although slaveholders
themselves. Yet it is possible the light from con-
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
113
tinental Europe might be shut out, were it not for
England. England, our own father-land, which,
as the home of literature, arts, and Christianity,
the South venerates far more than the North, has
set an example on this subject, on which the eyes
of the world are turned with eager interest. The
result of her measures for colonial emancipation is
not yet sufficiently obvious to be judged with cor-
rectness.
Should that result be favourable, the example
and the influence of that country, will have a pro-
digious effect upon slavery throughout the civilized
w7orld ; and these United States will feel that
effect in its mightiest power. As well might the
South attempt to silence the roar of the Atlantic
upon her shores as to escape its influence. If
England, by emancipation in her colonies, should
prove to the world, not only that negroes are human
beings, but that they are capable of self control as a
free community, and of high intellectual, and moral
improvement — that they are more virtuous, more
peaceable, more industrious as free hirelings ; in a
word, that they are worthy of the same rights and
privileges as men of Saxon or Roman descent —
and should make these facts a comment upon the
Declaration of American Independence, that all
men " are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness," would southern slavery long be able to
withstand public opinion ; not of the free states —
not of England and her dependencies alone — but of
the civilized world ?
10*
114
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
I confess the idea of such a result elevates my
mind above all consideration-s affecting any section
or any interest of my native country, and gives
me a loftier tone of feeling as a well wisher to my
species.
In answer to all this it may be said, that slavery
is not incompatible with republicanism, and Greece
and Rome may be cited in proof. I will offer two
considerations touching this point, for the reflec-
tion of the reader.
First. Slavery in ancient times was not confined
to a distinct race as with, us, nor was the object
then, as now, merely pecuniary advantage. War
and conquest were then considered almost the only
ennobling employments, and upon the conquest of
a state, or the sacking of a city, the whole survi-
ving population — patricians and peasants — were
dragged awray by the conquerors, to be exhibited
as trophies of their valor. After the exhibition
they were slain, or sold by the soldiers — being con-
sidered only worthy to be menials, for their want
of spirit in being taken alive. " Come back with
thy shield, or on thy shield" — the Spartan mother's
injunction to her warrior son — is a true picture of
the spirit of that age, in which physical power was
more honoured than intellectual or moral.
The other consideration arises from the greater
responsibility which we incur as moral agents.
" Where much is given, much will be required."
Upon republican Greece or Rome Christianity never
dawned. They were swayed by mere worldly
TO SLAVEHOLDERS.
115
motives in all their individual and national acts;
and the law to love their neighbours as themselves
had never sounded in their ears. The stream can-
not rise above its fountain ; and their gods, the
fabrication of their ancestors, were of like passions
with themselves. - One of the maxims to which, as
nations and as men, they most rigidly adhered,
was always to resent an insult; and it is evident
that human nature grows no better by age ; for, in
defiance of the law of God, it is a standing maxim
of the world at present.
In conclusion, I know not with what view the
considerations offered in this chapter may be re-
ceived ; but to my own mind, the exhortation of
the apostle to the Athenians is strikingly applica-
ble to American slavery- — " the times of this igno-
rance God winked at, but now commandeth all
men every where to repent."
CHAPTER III.
T© THE FREE STATES.
I. Free and slave states diametrically opposed — what influence
this should exert on the former — why oppose the spirit of abo-
lition— how the South may be reached.
II. Why slaveholders should be judged charitably — and the sub-
ject investigated — northern ministers appealed to — northern
men at the South — severe taskmasters — why.
III. Power of habit, the stronghold of slavery, influence of filial
and venerable associations among slaveholders — opposed to
unconditional emancipation — why.
IV. Universal conviction of the right of property. — Value of
slaves. — Ignorance of northern men respecting slavery.
V. Condition of the slave — observations of the writer — house
servants many advantages — field labourers — negro houses —
bad — mode of feeding slaves — various resources among them
— public opinion in favour of humanity — dress of slaves —
personal treatment — mode of labour — general appearance and
manners — many of them in places of trust — general views of
the whites — influence of the age on the slave.
VI. Free blacks of the South — situation unfavourable to improve-
ment— interesting exceptions.
VII. Condition of the free blacks at the North — anecdote — de-
graded— outcasts — vicious — neglected by the whites — deep-
rooted prejudice against them — proofs — what justice requires
of the free states. — North not guiltless respecting slavery —
what atonement for her own wrongs.
VIII. South devoted to the Union. — Interference of the North,
on the question of moral right — appeal to the free states —
to the clergy — examine motives — forbearance recommended
among equals — injurious effects of northern denunciation. —
Example of the Saviour.
I speak as unto wise men, judge ye what I say.
I. In the discussion of the subject of slavery,
now in agitation in our country, you cannot act at
■
TO THE FREE STATES.
117
all, nor exert any influence without incurring great
responsibility. Indeed it is probable, that the re-
sult, or final decision of the question, will take its
character, in a great degree, from the manner in
which you treat it. You need, therefore, scarcely
to be informed that, upon your wisdom, and pru-
dence, the future welfare and destiny of this great
nation depends.
The writer, being one of your number by birth
and education, may be presumed to know some-
thing of your habits of thinking — your prejudices
and sectional views, — and will take the liberty to
animadvert plainly on the position you occupy in
relation to this controversy ; and endeavour to assist
your inquiries, in view of forming a right decision
upon the subject.
And the first, perhaps the most important point
about which you need to be admonished is, to
divest yourself of sectional prejudice. You have
much yet to learn as a community, in order to
judge this subject, with respect to reciprocal right.
You are deeply prejudiced against slavery, and,
as a very natural consequence, against slaveholders.
Many of you are ready to prove, as clear as de-
monstration, that slaveholding in every case, in
every degree, is grossly wrong, a violation of every
sentiment of justice, a daring sin against Heaven.
In defence of this opinion, you will quote the Bible,
— appeal to the views of moral and political right
in which you were educated, and your own free-
dom from the sin. The slaveholder will make
118
TO THE FREE STATES.
exactly the same appeal on his side — quoting the
Bible, — the views of right in which he was edu-
cated,— and his consistent practice as proof. In
this state of the subject, all the deliberation, the
forbearance, the wisdom which fallen man can
command, will be required in the progress and
settlement of this question.
And remember, you cannot even agitate this
subject, to produce any effect on the South, with-
out being the aggressors. The South solicits you
to let her alone. She asks not your counsel re-
specting the possession or treatment of her slaves;
she earnestly requests you not to intermeddle with
her domestic institutions. She claims, and justly
too, that this is a question to be decided by her
own free will.
Many of you will plead perhaps that slavery is
a moral evil, and therefore ought to be abandoned.
Admitting this to be true, what practical effect
ought it to produce among you ? Are you thence
authorized to undertake its abolition by force?
Have you received a commission to vindicate the
cause of moral right, from the only source whence
such a commission could emanate — the fountain of
truth and justice? would you not individually, and as
a community, resist to the utmost, every interference
which assumed a right to dictate respecting the
moral tendency of your own actions? The answer
is too plain to admit a doubt.
Every question involving moral obligation, ex-
cept so far as it affects the peace of society, is
I
TO THE FREE STATES.
119
purely between man and his Maker. Of course
when men design to exert an influence upon others,
touching such questions, no weapons are allowable
but those of a moral kind. This truth is too ob-
vious to admit any doubt : and the people of the
North have practised it with great effect on a
subject deeply affecting the temporal as well as
moral interest of society. I mean the subject of
temperance.
Had the first agitators of temperance reform
gone forth and taken the drunkard by the throat,
and commanded him to abstain from his cups, be-
cause he was ruining himself; what would have
been the result? Would not the universal opinion
of society have condemned such measures ? and
would it not have increased rather than diminished
the evil? What would be the effect, if ministers
of the gospel should leave their appropriate sphere
of ''persuading men to be reconciled to God,"
and, by anathemas and violence, compel them to be
pious ? How soon would the pagan world be con-
verted, if the missionaries sent to them should under-
take to coerce their abandonment of heathenish
idolatry ?
But you do not harbour the idea of attempting
to put down slavery by force; I am fully persuaded
your views on this subject, as a question of moral
right, are correct ; but there is great danger, that,
although you would not raise an arm to free the
slave, the tendency of your measures will lead to
the same result. If you, by persisting in a course
120
TO THE FREE STATES.
of opposition to the known will and wishes of the
South — by reproaches, threats, and criminations —
produce an excitement leading to a civil or a
servile war, will you not be answerable for the
consequences, to God and man ? The effect will
be the same as if you marched an army to put
down slavery. With this view of the subject, I
call on you, as a sober, reflecting people, to oppose
the temper of the immediate abolitionists. What-
ever may be their principles, their tone and manner
are at war alike with religion, and reason, and
common sense. The spirit manifested in their
publications, and many of their public resolutions,
cannot be a good one. It is the spirit of denuncia-
tion, and curses, and vengeance. It reveals itself
in reproaches, in bitter taunts, in indiscriminate
invective. It does not breathe benevolence and
good will to men, but exactly the reverse. It is
the spirit of the worst persecution, for it bitterly
denounces every thing that does not immediately
bow to its own assumptions. I hazard nothing in
asserting, that as soon as the tone of the immediate
abolitionists becomes the standard of northern feel-
ing on the question of slavery, there is an immediate
end of this Union. The South would break the
bond of union at a blow, without taking time to
reflect upon the consequences.
But the South rejects your reasoning on this
subject altogether. She denies the premises, and
rejects the deductions. Probably a majority of
the religious and moral part of the southern com-
TO THE FREE STATES.
121
munity will contend that slavery is morally right,
and of the still larger class who profess no religion,
and are not governed by moral motives, it is suf-
ficient to secure their adherence to the practice
even unto deaths that it is for their interest. Now,
whether right or wrong, you must first remove
slaveholders from the ground they at present oc-
cupy as moral and thinking beings, before voir can
effect abolition. You must convince the man who
admits his moral accountability, that slavery is
sin; you must convince the man governed by
wordly motives, that slavery is against his interest,
and then you may make an impression upon the
system.
To effect these objects, it is evident there is a
large field to be explored. Every thing relating
to slavery, as an institution or usage of society, is
of importance in examining the subject. Neither
individuals nor communities are ready at once,
nor even immediately after full conviction of its
injurious tendency, to renounce a practice which
they have long cherished. There can be no doubt
that the result of abolition movements upon the
South, thus far, has been to withdraw the minds of
slaveholders from all investigation of its moral and
political bearing, and make them adhere to and
support it more strenuously in self-defence.
II. I shall now endeavour to make such state-
ments with regard to slavery, as some observation
of its practical operation and effect upon society
11
122
TO THE FREE STATES.
suggested, with a view of adding something to
your knowledge of the subject, and enabling you
to form a correct opinion of its merits.
First, I purpose to offer some observations on the
situation and views of the whites or masters ;
which will lead us to contemplate the system in
the light of cause and effect.
And the first reflection which strikes the mind,
in taking a comprehensive view of the subject, is
one of a moral nature. In condemning slavery,
we unchristianize the South. The slave states,
like the free, are divided into a great number of
religious sects. These all, as a body, ministers
and laymen, are slaveholders. Her presbyteries,
associations, convocations, and conferences, all
recognize its lawfulness — all participate in it — all
repel charges brought against it. Surely this fact,
although no justification of slavery, should, at
least, influence us to be deliberate and cautious in
condemning it in a wholesale manner. Were the
practice sustained by one or twTo sects, and rejected
by the others, there would be more ground for
suspicion ; but there are multitudes of ministers
of each of the great denominations at the South,
who have no more conscientious scruples in hold-
ing their slaves, than they have in preaching
sermons. Are you ready, at your distance, to
denounce a whole Christian community for holding
to a practice which you consider unlawful ? Until
you have their views explicitly unfolded, and can
comprehend all the circumstances w7hich have a
TO THE FREE STATES.
123
bearing upon the subject, charity should admonish
you, not to be hasty in judging.
Either slavery is right, or these Christians are
blinded to the truth ; for it cannot be a moment
believed, that they are all hypocrites, openly avow-
ing and defending a practice which they know to
be wrong. The question whether they are right
should certainly be investigated, before they are
summarily condemned ; and even if they are proved
to be wrong, passionate or harsh denunciation
will have but little effect in opening their blind
eves, or in stopping their deaf ears. That they
are not sinners " above all others" with regard to
the deportment and character which should adorn
the Christian profession, any one may judge for
himself, if he will seek an interview. A minister
in Virginia told me, that rum-selling and visiting
horse races (a favourite amusement at the South,)
he considered subjects of church discipline, and in
his own church would not be tolerated. This min-
ister was a slaveholder. Perhaps some of my
readers may be inclined to class him with those
who " strain at a gnat and swallow a camel."
And here I will remark, that I believe, the minis-
try at the North generally, to say the least, are
becoming more and more opposed to slavery. I
have no reason to question their motives in this ;
but I must be permitted to enter a solemn protest
against their summary denunciation of the practice,
from conclusions formed in their own studies. If
they heartily believe that it is a crying national
124
TO THE FREE STATES.
sin, one upon which the judgments of Heaven are
impending, they ought first to satisfy themselves of
its enormity ; and. if possible, go and view the
offence and the offenders face to face, that they
may be able to preach understandingly against it,
and enforce their arguments by facts and illustra-
tions drawn from their own observations. The
ministers of the South do not act in a corner, nor
would they be reluctant to meet a candid opponent
in argument, or to hear all his candid objections
against it. But a continual warfare and angry
discussion at a distance, is contrary to the spirit of
Christian benevolence, and to the first principles of
justice. It produces continual irritation, and deep-
ens prejudices which otherwise might be easily
effaced. Even St. Paul did not thus act in his
intercourse with the heathen world. The town-
clerk of Ephesus exonerated him from the charge
of blaspheming the goddess of the Ephesians. With
a profound knowledge of human character, he
judged that clamorous denunciations of their abo-
minable idolatries would fill the popular mind with
phrenzy or prejudice, and thus effectually exclude
the doctrines wrhich he designed to inculcate for
their good.
And there is another observation to be made
here, to which the candid attention of northern
ministers is invited, while reflecting upon this sub-
ject. A great many ministers have gone from the
free states as missionaries, teachers, and residents
of the South. They had the fellowship and confi-
TO THE FREE STATES.
125
dence of their brethren when they left, as pious,
devoted men. Now what is the result? In a
majority of instances, have they converted the
slaveholders, or have the slaveholders converted
them ? Have they fallen into the errors of the com-
munity around them, or, like Noah, walked with
God, while all others apostatized from him ? Surely
this fact of the general adoption of the practice of
slavery by Christian men from the free states, should
at least give some room for charity in judging it.
And it is a source of complacency to the South,
and not very creditable to the northern denunci-
ators of slavery, that northern men, upon becoming
residents of a slave state, very generally become
slaveholders ; and it is a notorious fact, that they
are frequently the severest masters.
It is a common remark at the South, that the
negro, when elevated to be an overseer, is the
hardest taskmaster over his fellow-slave, and the
slaveholder from the free states is the next. The
reason of this severity, in the case of the latter, is
easily explained ; although the explanation will add
more credit to northern character for enterprise
and energy, than for clemency and humanity.
The northern man is accustomed to a degree of
activity, energy, and skill among mechanics and
labourers, to which slaves are utter strangers.
Consequently, he becomes impatient at their in-
dolence and carelessness, and will very probably
endeavour to hasten their operations by compul-
sion. Among native slaveholders, the master has
11*
126
TO THE FREE STATES.
been so long accustomed to the sluggishness of the
negro, or rather has been accustomed to no other
mode of labour, that it excites no surprise or impa-
tience. After a sufficient experiment, the northern
man, weary of exerting himself in vain to make
the negro energetic and quick, gives up the point,
by falling into the custom of his neighbours, and
letting the slave pursue his own mode and system.
III. 2» The power of habit is perhaps nowhere
more strikingly manifest than in the practice of
southern slavery. The influence of this principle
is here observed, as having the same control over
a community that an inveterate habit has over an
individual. No person can have an adequate idea
of this fact, without actual residence among them.
Slavery is a mere matter of course. To agitate
the question of general emancipation in any form,
would strike the community at large like proposing
to them to give up their homes. The first question
would be in either case, " how could we live with-
out them V9 The practice has been so long con-
tinued, handed down from father to son, that it has
become necessary to the present organization of
society. The system is so interwoven with every
fibre of society, that, to think of abandoning it,
would seem like rending the different members of the
body asunder. It has thrown a chain round society
almost as difficult to cast off, as that which distin-
guishes castes in India. The inhabitants live as
their fathers did, for they know no other way.
Those people of the North, who see comparatively
TO THE FREE STATES.
127
very few blacks, have very little idea of the con-
struction of society at the South. Were some of
them who associate every thing offensive with the
idea of coming in contact with a negro, to see the
order of things, where one half the society are
blacks, they would soon learn there are more
things on earth —
" Than are dream't of in their philosophy,'1
and would obtain some new ideas of human
character. It is mutually understood, both by
master and slave, that the former is to do the
head work, and the latter the hand work. And
although this is a distinctive characteristic, yet as
the direction of labour must constantly attend its
operations, it brings the two parties into familiar
contact, though entirely distinct. In the towns,
and among the large planters, the slaves do all the
labour, and perform all the menial services. As a
general fact, a white man can do nothing even for
himself personally, which another can do for him.
In the house and abroad, a servant is in attendance.
The parlour, the dressing-room, as well as the
kitchen, are full of them. They come in contact
with the family and guests at every corner. Hence
there are various grades, and various duties as-
signed to each. A stranger to the system, closely
observing the movements of the parties, would
very soon see the effect of slavery upon the do-
mestic organization of society.
Again, in another respect, the system of slavery
possesses a very powerful influence upon the feel-
128
TO THE FREE STATES.
ings of the community. It has been so long
adopted and uncensured, been transmitted from
father to son for generations, that it is associated
with every thing venerable and filial. There is
not perhaps a stronger or more deeply cherished
feeling in the human breast, than respect and vene-
ration for our fathers. And this feeling has a great
influence when applied to the subject under consi-
deration. " Surely a system which our forefathers
approved and practised — a state of society in
which they lived and died — cannot be wrong. The
right to an inheritance, which was bequeathed to us
by them, and transmitted to us by their last solemn
act and testament ; sanctioned by the laws of the
land, and by the usages of the whole community,
cannot be questioned." Thus the slaveholder rea-
sons, for he is bred in the same undoubted right to
the slave, that he is to the family mansion. The
wealth of the father purchased both ; his care and
affection preserved them for his children. Is it
strange, then, if under such circumstances, the son
should not join the immediate abolitionists in de-
nouncing his father's memory, and proclaiming to
the world that his ancestors were all guilty of a
most hateful crime. Their filial respect and grati-
tude are now indissolubly connected with their
interests, and, with their present views and feelings,
they would sooner perish on the tombs of their
fathers, than do a deed which, in their opinion,
would dishonour them. It requires but a limited
knowledge of human nature, to judge of the power-
TO THE FREE STATES.
12<J
ful influence which such reasoning possesses over
the minds of persons in their circumstances ; and
although the opposer of slavery will not admit its
weight as an argument, it is a strong hold, which
men of the world will hardly yield.
3. There is an'other objection, arising in the
minds of slaveholders, when thinking seriously of
emancipation, at which they revolt. It is the idea
of having the slaves set at liberty, and yet remain
in the community. There must be a complete
change in their views and feelings before they
will consent to this. There are many reasons
which influence their minds, in utterly rejecting
this proposition. A very strong one is the fact
that the few free negroes, now living among them,
are a miserable, idle class, outcasts of society, and
looked upon with universal suspicion by the whites.
So strong is the prejudice against free blacks, that
in some of the states there are laws against any
being made free, unless they are sent out of the
state. Again, there is no doubt, in many instances,
a feeling of proud superiority, which would not, for
a moment, brook the idea of having the slave re-
leased from his condition of servility and depend-
ence, and made in any respect an equal ! There
is also a very large class who would not be able
to endure the thought of living without the conti-
nual services of the negro, so entirely dependent
has habit made them upon the eyes, ears, and
hands of others, for the most simple personal
services.
130
TO THE FREE STATES.
But the grand objection of the community (and
it is probably nearly universal) is the belief, that the
negroes, if made free, would be the pest of society,
and live by plunder and mischief. Naturally indo-
lent— almost forced, at present, to perform their
slight work — without intelligence to direct their
labours — without any property — in a state of utter
destitution — they would continually prey upon the
whites, and live uncontrolled. Many, no doubt,
think the lives and property of the whites would
be at their disposal, and some even declare that
the latter would be obliged to abandon the coun-
try to them. This is a serious question, and
demands deliberate attention. The South will
never harbor the thought of emancipation in this
mode, without a radical change in public senti-
ment. It is sufficient to remark, that the southern
people are the only proper judges of the mode of
emancipation; and that whatever individual or
community proposes a plan for their adoption, it
should be done in the tone and manner of friendly
counsel, not in the spirit of compulsive denuncia-
tion.
IV. But perhaps the most prominent fact sug-
gesting itself to the mind of the observer in the
slave states, is the almost unanimous conviction of
the right of property in the slave. However they
may differ in other respects, the slaveholders, as a
body, are generally agreed in this. Depend upon
it, the South at present feels a consciousness of
TO THE FREE STATES.
131
right on the main question at issue, which is very
little understood at the North. There are indeed
many in the frontier states, who are harboring
conscientious scruples as to the moral lawfulness
of slavery, who feel that it is burdensome and
wasteful, and know that it rests like a mountain
of lead upon the energies of the state ; but still, even
these are not ready to allow you to touch the right
of property. On this point, I^vill relate a single
fact, among many similar which might be given. I
wTas introduced to a gentleman, one who is well
known in his neighbourhood for piety and philan-
thropy, as a northern man. In the seclusion of
the parlour, he opened to me his views fully, on the
subject of slavery — commencing himself with the
remark, " I hope you have come to show us some
feasible plan of putting away slavery." He con-
versed freely and openly, respecting his own views,
— the state of public sentiment — and the action of
legislation on the subject: but when the thought of
abolitionists entered his mind, (just such views of
northern abolitionists prevail all over the South,
indeed this is a very favourable specimen) his voice
and manner changed in a moment. " You," said
he, pointing his finger at me, " you, northern abo-
litionists, have put a stop to all our designs for the
benefit of the slave." " Why," he exclaimed,
" should they attempt to take away my property,
I would take down my rifle there, and fight to the
last breath." This same man told me he could
not conscientiously sell his slaves, unless he knew
132
TO THE FREE STATES.
they would be better off than with him, and I have
abundant proof that he was an indulgent master.
The South feel at present on this subject pre-
cisely as the people of the free states would, if
some powrer, which had no shadow of right to
intermeddle, should agitate the question of taking
away — " peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must,"
one half of their property, embracing that part of
it which was most valuable and available.
Connected with this view of the subject is the
value of the slave. At a very moderate estimate
of the value of the slaves in the United States, as
property, they are worth five hundred millions of
dollars. To bring the question more within the
range of practical calculation, it may be safely
assumed, that the slaves are more valuable than
the plantations, were both put into the market, and
they are also more available property. With their
present views, all this property w7ould be lost by
emancipation, and their estates be without value.
Have they not some reason to require, that if you
wish them to give up their slaves — their means of
living— leaving them entirely helpless — you should
make them remuneration ?
Thus I have endeavoured candidly to state some
of the views of the South with regard to slavery,
in reference to emancipation. That the reasons
given operate with the weight of conclusive evi-
dence in favour of slavery, need not be questioned.
Whatever may be the impression among the
people of the North, respecting the cogency of
TO THE FREE STATES.
133
these reasons, they may at least learn what obsta-
cles are to be removed before peaceable emanci-
pation can be effected. Those who consider
slavery as a mere appendage to southern society,
which may be thrown off with the same facility as
an extra garment from an individual — are egre-
giously mistaken, and know nothing about it. It
is emphatically an integral part of society itself,
and its removal would produce a different organi-
zation or order. There is another class — perhaps
wiser men — at the North, who would be willingly
considered profound thinkers, and deeply read in
the knowledge of human character and institutions,
who do not see any very terrible consequences, in
overthrowing the system at once, in the very face
of all these obstacles. They look upon these objec-
tions, which I have briefly considered, only as so
many deep-rooted prejudices, or more properly
bug-bears, having no existence but in the imagi-
nation of the slaveholders. Like a man who has
got an idea that there is a tremendous precipice in
the path just before him, how cautiously and fear-
fully will he grope his way, and shrink back,
involuntarily, at the thought of another step being
his last. But when he has passed the utmost
limits of the supposed danger, he will look back
with surprise and chagrin, at the mighty fears his
imagination had created. This is, indeed, a very
pretty supposition, and all that these deep thinkers
have to do is to get the slaveholders safe beyond
the verge of the precipice.
134
TO THE FREE STATES.
V. What are the views and practices of the
slaveholder, simply as a master, possessing, govern-
ing, and directing the slave, may perhaps be under-
stood by considering
Secondly, The condition and treatment of the
slave.
My own observations will form the basis of my
remarks on this subject. I shall state what I have
seen rather than what I have heard.
Upon entering a slave community for the first
time, after thirty years' residence in the free states,
my closest observation was directed to the condi-
tion and appearance of the blacks. I went with
the feelings of a northern man — a liberal prejudice
against slavery. My object was not to pry into
secrets, and explore hidden mysteries, — not to hunt
up isolated facts to use as arguments against
slavery — not to note down trivial circumstances,
to be expanded into marvelous narratives to feed
insatiable appetites. I had a great curiosity to see
a system or state of society, in my own country,
about which I had heard and reflected so much.
I wished to see it, and did see it, not in corners or
in peculiar circumstances of great interest, but as
an institution of society in its every day appear-
ance. I had no interference with it — did not go
out of my way to make discoveries — but made such
use of my eyes, ears, and tongue, as inclination
prompted.
Such is the foundation of the following remarks
on the condition and treatment of slaves. I had
TO THE FREE STATES.
135
no motive in seeing, which I would not willingly
have made public — I have none in writing, but the
well-being of my country. My first impressions
of slavery were favourable. Candor obliges me to
acknowledge that in no city of the North of the
same class have -I ever been, where the black
population are so respectable in appearance — so
well dressed — well behaved, and apparently so
happy, as in the city of where I first landed.
I am also obliged to say, that this was the best
specimen I saw in these respects, — of half a dozen
cities and large towns I subsequently visited in that
and the neighbouring states.
From what has been said of the familiar inter-
course of household servants with their masters
and families, it will of course be inferred that the
former are expected and obliged to keep them-
selves very neat and respectable in their personal
appearance, and habits, at least externally. And
they exhibit a very distinct relationship to the
human family of a lighter complexion, in their
fondness for dress and finery. The most exquisite
gentlemen in dress and politeness I ever saw, were
blacks in a slave city. House and body servants
frequently catch and copy the manners of their
masters, so as to exhibit in their address, and in
polite accomplishments, an exact imitation. You
may observe two dandies pass in the street, and
salute each other, and touch their hats with a grace
which few white men ever attain.
From the circumstances of their situation, the
136
TO THE FREE STATES.
servants having close and constant intercourse
with the family, have many privileges and advan-
tages. Their burdens are not heavy, their labours
far from being severe. They appear to enjoy life
as well or better than any other class in the com-
munity ; and when not actually employed, the
streets and corners are loud writh their gossip and
laughter.
In descending to the country, slavery wears a
different aspect. According to the circumstances
and style of the master, a greater or less number
of each sex are employed in the necessary services
of the house, as in the large towns ; the rest are field
hands or outdoor labourers. It is an object for
slaves to get a station about the house. The labour
is lighter, and the fare better, and they are all very
fond of the good things of the kitchen.
The field labourers live in huts by themselves,
which, on small plantations, are generally built in
the immediate vicinity of the family residence.
These huts are called the negro quarters, and the
impression they made on my mind was more
unfavourable to the practice of slavery than any
thing I saw. I hesitate not to say, they are too
often alike unworthy the master and the slave. I
doubt whether the cabins of the natives on the
banks of the Gambia are so poor and miserable.
I never entered one of them, but have looked into
several, and seen numbers in traveling. They are
constructed of plank or logs, or logs and clay, and
are very generally in a dilapidated condition ; and
TO THE FREE STATES.
137
from the specimens I saw, with nothing worthy
the name of furniture. The farmers' hovels or
cattle sheds at the North, taking the average of
both, are better buildings, except that the cabins are
probably somewhat tighter. I regret to say these
things — I say them in hope of producing reform.
There is a manifest pride in the master in hav-
ing his slaves, particularly those about his house
and person, in good condition ; but to see a large
mansion, a worthy residence for a governor, with
its beautifully shaded inclosures and graveled
walks, and tasteful gardens, flanked at a little dis-
tance in front by half a dozen wretched hovels,
unfit to tenant any human beings, is a scene un-
worthy of old Virginia.
The slaves on small plantations, and with hu-
mane masters, are generally supplied with food
from the household kitchen. A sufficient quantity
is prepared at each meal for the whole establish-
ment, and after the master and family have eaten,
the remainder is carried out to the servants in their
quarters, without measure or weight. This is the
most favourable mode for the slave, as he has the
same food as the master. But the general practice
in feeding slaves is by rations — a given quantity
to each person. The great staple is corn. This
is measured so much to a person or family, for a
given time, and prepared by themselves. I am
unable to state to what extent meat rations are
allowed. Some masters deny meat to slaves al-
together, but I believe these are comparatively
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138
TO THE FREE STATES.
few. In a country where pork is plenty, and an
article of universal consumption, the slaves are
extensively furnished with it, and is generally given
out to them, once a year, at the time of slaughter-
ing, so much for an individual or family. Many
of them also raise pigs and chickens, which they
may consume or sell. And I believe it is a very
general practice all over the South, to allow slaves
patches of ground which they may appropriate as
they please. They raise corn, cotton, tobacco, or
vegetables, and sell them for their own profit.
This kind of tithing, or allowing slaves a part for
themselves, is observable also in other things. A
negro brings a load of wood to market, and you
will see several long sticks slung on the outside of
his cart. He delivers you the load, and you ques-
tion him about the outside sticks. " Dat mine,
massa, I get quarter dollar for dat." You buy it
of course.
There is also a great variety of wild fruits, in-
creasing as you proceed South — to which the
negroes have access. On large estates, and where
the "force" is under the control of a hard-hearted
and selfish manager or overseer, I have no doubt
there are instances of deprivation and actual suf-
fering. But the reader may be assured the negroes
perfectly understand the first law of nature — self
support. If sufficient is not given them, they have
little difficulty in helping themselves. They gather
the crops, do all the work, and every thing that
is their master's passes through their hands. The
TO THE FREE STATES.
139
right is theirs, the moon and stars their friends ;
and dogs, bolts, and bars are insufficient to keep
them from providing for themselves in case of
necessity. They have also some resources, which
avail them more or less. One is grumbling. They
are inveterate grumblers when they are not suited.
I have seen a slave tell a white man, who threat-
ened to give him no dinner, — very respectfully of
course — that " he could not work without he had
enough to eat," and I have little doubt that if the
slave was cut off from his dinner, the master was
cut short in his work. If the slave has not enough
to eat, he will obstinately neglect or spoil his work
Experience has taught masters that it is for their
interest to have servants well fed, well clothed, and
well treated.
I am unwilling to believe the southern slave, except
in rare instances, suffers for want of food. There
are here, as everywhere else — brutes in human
form — men who fear not God nor regard man.
An example was mentioned of a man, in Maryland,
who possessed several hundred slaves, and from
whose manner of feeding them, both as to quality
and quantity, humanity revolts. " What do his
neighbours say about him ?" I inquired. " What
do his neighbours say about him," repeated my
informant, (a slaveholder himself,) — " what don't
they say about him." There is public opinion in
favour of humanity at the South ; and the man who
sets public opinion at defiance among slaveholders,
140
TO THE FREE STATES.
is estimated in society there as he is everywhere
else.
The slaves are habituated to rise very early in
the morning and commence their labours, and, so
far as I have observed, quit their work at supper
or sunset, and then they are free till the next morn-
ing. It is not customary to require services of
field labourers after night fall, except on extra oc-
casions, although, at such times, I have no doubt,
unreasonable services are sometimes required of
them.
With regard to dress, the slaves are generally
comfortably supplied. Their clothing is strong
and coarse, but whole and decent. In many in-
stances in the country, the master and servant are
clothed from the same piece. And yet there are
some so patched, like Joseph's coat, with many
colours, that it would puzzle even Yankee ingenuity
to discover the original cloth. I have seen some
suits, which must have represented all the garments
used in the family mansion since the revolution.
The common clothing is supplied by the master,
of course — generally in the same mode as rations
— so many garments and pairs of shoes per year ;
but whenever a holiday suit is required, the slaves,
unless lucky enough to obtain the cast off garments
of the family, supply themselves. I believe most
slaves of both sexes have suits better than their
every day clothing, and the fact is creditable to the
master and servant. The avails of their gardens,
and the means obtained for little services, from
TO THE FREE STATES.
141
guests of the family and others, are expended for
this purpose. Servants in large towns and vicini-
ties obtain considerable money in this way, which
is considered their own. And probably not a few
purloin and sell the property of their masters,
and apply the avails to their own use.
The main question will here be asked, what is
the personal treatment of the slave? It is a point
which should be satisfactorily settled if possible,
for there is a great prejudice against slavery in
some sections, on account of real or supposed in-
humanity to the negro. And there are some very
compassionate people who believe the master is
engaged, a considerable part of his time, with a
terrible cat-o'-nine tails, and who think the lash is
continually resounding from the Delaware to the
Sabine. I am by no means prepared to answer
this question, from extensive observation ; for during
a year a half con-tact with slavery, I have never
seen a slave flogged or sold. Doubtless I might,
had I been ambitious of looking up such spectacles,
but in " minding my own business," no such re-
markable occurrence has fallen under my notice.
I will endeavour, however, to throw some light on
the subject, and at least put the reader in the way
of answering the question for himself.
And the first suggestion I would offer is this,
how do the people of the free states treat their
servants, and how would they treat them, were
they in the bondage of southern negroes ? The
northern reader can immediately refer his thoughts
142
TO THE FREE STATES.
to certain persons of his acquaintance who would
be cruel masters, but of the great body of his
neighbours he has a better opinion. Human na-
ture is radically the same every where. The North
will perhaps lay claim to more religion, purer
morals, and a higher philanthropy to soften their
dispositions; and so far as this is the fact allowance
is to be made, — otherwise they may judge very
exactly of the treatment of southern slaves, by the
mirrors in their own bosoms.
The slave is taught from childhood that his busi-
ness is to labour, and he goes to his snail-pace
employment as a matter of course. On large plan-
tations there are overseers to direct the labourers
and keep them at work. If the slave should be
refractory or disobedient, he would be subdued in
a summary manner. If, in the absence of the
master or overseer, he should not perform a reason-
able amount of labour, he would very probably
suffer some punishment, — most likely corporal
chastisement — and certainly for a repetition of
neglect. That the master or manager follows
him into the field, and urges him forward with a
whip, is, I am persuaded, but a rare occurrence ;
and that the slaves, as a body, are not goaded and
driven in their tasks, I am satisfied from two con-
siderations.
First, — public sentiment is against it. There is,
as I have before stated, a kind of tacit agreement
between the master and slave, that the latter should
take his own course as to activity of muscular mo-
TO THE FREE STATES.
143
tion, provided he keeps regularly at work ; and out
of his accustomed track he cannot be driven with
impunity or safety. About a certain amount of
positive labour is expected of each hand, accord-
ing to his ability. This certain amount is pretty
definitely understood by both parties, and does not
exceed half of what is performed by a northern
labourer. The master who should persist in
forcing his hands to much greater exertion,
would generally find himself in difficulty. His
work would be neglected or spoiled — his slaves
would run away, if they did nothing worse — he
would be marked by the community as an inhuman
master, and hated by his own subjects. It is im-
possible to keep slaves from communicating with
each other ; what is done on one estate is known
through the neighbourhood.
Secondly, — there is prima facie evidence of the
general freedom of the slave from great severity
of treatment, which to my own mind is of great
weight. I was greatly disappointed at the general
appearance and manners of this class of society.
As a body they are erect in posture, with manly
figures, personally in good condition or well fed,
and with a boldness of look, not found among
human beings, either burdened with guilt or ground
to the dust by an iron rigour. A slave will look a
white man in the face with as much confidence,
and as little wavering of the eye, as one of his
equals. There is an air of servility about them in
all their communications with the whites, as a
144
TO THE FREE STATES.
matter of course — a negro is taught to touch his
hat to a white man as a superior ; he does it al-
most mechanically — but there is very little abject-
ness of demeanor. I have been often struck with
these facts in my observation of slavery, and they
afford conclusive evidence that the negro has not
lost all sense of manliness in his bondage. There
is a large number among them who appear almost
to have lost the idea of slavery. Many of them
have the management of farms at a distance
from their masters, with a sufficient force to per-
form the labour. I have had acquaintance with
some such, who for that information most useful
to farmers, such as is derived from experience and
observation, are equal to white men — perhaps
superior; for being ignorant of letters, their mental
capacities are all centered in observing the opera-
tions of nature, and the practices of other men —
while for shrewdness and manliness in managing
bargains, they are not a whit behind their masters.
Many are teamsters or wagoners, who are in-
trusted with loads of produce to carry to market,
— sometimes on journeys of hundreds of miles;
and carry back merchandize for the country mer-
chants. Others are mechanics, millers, or coach-
men, all of whom are men in manners, deportment,
and sagacity, far above the degree which ignorance
of practical slavery has assigned to such a state.
I believe the idea of degradation dwells much more
strongly in the breast of the master than the slave.
Some of the former, at least in sentiment, profess to
TO THE FREE STATES.
145
hold the latter as an inferior to the last degree. A
white man — (and a Christian man if profession
makes a Christian), said, "I wiil lose the last drop
of my blood before I will be insulted by a negro,"
although the insult in this instance consisted in the
slave refusing to do what he was ordered, having
received a contrary order from another, who had
at least an equal right to his services. Of course
this Christian man was in a tremendous passion.
There is a very general belief throughout the
South, that the negro requires a chastisement oc-
casionally; a sort of periodical flogging, to keep
him obedient and respectful — otherwise he would
become impudent, insolent, and intolerable. I am
not sufficiently acquainted with slavery in detail,
to judge the correctness of this common, almost
universal, sentiment ; nor w7hether the practice of
the master accords with his belief. But I have
heard the remark from persons living in the slave
states, and who w7ere opposed to slavery from
principle, giving, as a strong feature of the negro's
character, an inclination to be impudent and in-
solent.
But one fact is very evident ; they are very
much inclined to scold, and fret, and quarrel
among themselves, especially females, and require
a firm voice and steady hand to keep them from
uproar, or injuring one another. It is a curious
fact, that the last epithet of reproach which they
can use in anger, is to call each other negro. If
ordered by one of their own colour to do any thing
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TO THE FREE STATES.
to which they have a disinclination, the scornful
answer is, " I don't do nigger's work."
In summing up the particulars mentioned on this
subject, I am ready to conclude that, in the physical
treatment of southern slaves, they are better off
than their fellows of any other age or country.
In view of the fearful power of the master to pos-
sess, work, punish, or sell the slave almost beyond
responsibility; and in view of the disposition of
men to exceed the bounds of justice or modera-
tion where they have power, it must be conceded
the southern slave has a very tolerable lot ; and
his condition must of necessity grow better or
worse. He cannot stand still while the world is ad-
vancing around him. The increasing light must be
hidden from him, or it will have a decided influence
upon him. Though at an almost immeasurable dis-
tance, he follows in the footsteps of his master.
Although his fellow man has denied him the use of
letters, he cannot deprive him of those avenues to
the mind with which God has endowed him. The
negro sees the triumph of art in the steamboat and
rail-road, and he feels a degree of the enthusiasm
of his master. He even feels a pride of country
in these achievements of art. His constant inter-
course with his white superiors has imparted a
portion of their intelligence to him. He reflects
and reasons, although in a limited sphere, and as-
sociates the ideas of freedom and wealth with all
the improvements around him. To be sure, habit
and hereditary degradation have destined him to a
TO THE FREE STATES.
147
life of servility. Every thing about him — all his
senses — combine to teach him that his master is
strong, and he weak ; the one rich, the other poor.
But the advancement of society will find him a
willing disciple, and an apt scholar; and when the
amount of knowledge among slaves shall be suffi-
cient for them to exert an influence upon each
other, and thus impart intelligence among them-
selves, faster than that received by reflection from
the master, as at present, the relative position of
the community will soon be very different. The
influence or result of that change, time only can
determine.
VI. I will here make a few remarks on the free
blacks of the South. As a class, they are in a
worse condition than the slaves. They have little
more intelligence, and are more out of the way of
acquiring information, being at a greater distance,
and having less intercourse with the whites. They
look upon the slaves as being obliged to work, and
they exhibit positive evidence of being free from
the obligation by their idleness. It is also a very
general belief that they get their living mostly by
stealing. They are not so well clothed, and less
respectable in appearance and manners, than the
slaves. They are also a source of continual sus-
picion, and their situation seems to be in every
respect unpleasant and unfavourable to improve-
ment.
But to these general remarks there is an interest-
148
TO THE FREE STATES.
ing exception. In all the cities of the South, there
is a class of free blacks who have risen above all
the obstacles that surround them, and, by perse-
verance in well doing, have established a character
for honesty and industry, and are in prosperous
circumstances. They are barbers, mechanics,
porters, hackmen, and, especially, waiters. This
last appears to be the most suitable employment
for the negro. It is a situation which seems to be
adapted to his taste and genius, and he takes pride
in sho wing his capability in it. Experience makes
him an adept in all its details. It is here, if any-
where, his activity and energy are brought to light.
And from the acknowledged worthlessness of the
great body of servants, those in whom confidence
can be placed are always in demand, and obtain
good wages.
VII. As a suitable conclusion to this part of the
subject, I purpose to offer a few remarks on the
condition of the blacks in the free states. In doing
this, I shall avoid all extended comparisons. It
has required some exertion of the will throughout
this work to keep my pen from instituting compa-
risons between the North and South, while treating
of slavery. Many might be made highly illustra-
tive of sectional characteristics, but I am aware
they might seem invidious to certain classes of
persons, and would perhaps have a tendency to
deepen that feeling of prejudice (already sufficiently
watchful), which it should be the aim of every
TO THE FREE STATES.
149
person, whose object is the dissemination of truth
and justice, to allay.
This would be a suitable place for treating upon
the capacity and character of the African, but the
discussion of that subject does not fall wTithin the
limits of this work. I will venture, however, to
remark, that, in the present condition of the negro,
the community will never agree respecting it.
Reflections will naturally arise in the minds of the
inquisitive, but it would be altogether unjust to
judge of what he is capable of attaining, as an in-
tellectual being, from his present state. It is an
undeniable fact, that, throughout this Union, he
is considered and treated as a degraded inferior.
When we reflect upon the slow progress made
even by our English forefathers, in the arts of life
and mental cultivation for three hundred years
past, at which period the mass of the people wrere
probably behind the present American negroes,
we can form some opinion of the length of time
the latter would require, in the most favourable
circumstances, before it would be fair to decide
upon his capacity. That he partakes in an emi-
nent degree of the indolence and the propensity for
animal indulgence, so conspicuous in the natives of
warm climates, cannot be questioned ; whether
they are increased or diminished by his condition
of slavery, it is difficult to determine. That he is
the subject of strong passions, both fierce and
gentle, must be evident to every one who has made
any observation on his character. The following
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TO THE FREE STATES.
anecdote has often occurred to me in observing
the condition of the African race, as illustrative of
its degraded, unsocial state in this country. I was
acquainted with a very respectable coloured shoe-
maker, while a resident of one of the northern
cities, a few years ago, whom I sometimes em-
ployed in his occupation. I frequently entered into
conversation with him, and, observing several
white men in his employ, endeavoured to excite in
him a feeling of sympathy in favour of his race.
I immediately discovered that the subject was one
on which he had been thoughtful. 6i Sir," said he,
suspending his work, and looking me in the face,
" I have tried to do them good, but I can't. They
won't learn. I have had a dozen coloured appren-
tices, and they every one left me after staying one,
two, or four months. They were never used to
any work, and it was so irksome to be confined
to it, they had rather run away, and live by begging
and stealing. Not one in twenty will make a man
good for any regular business. It is the fault of
their parents."
Every northern man can judge how far this
statement of the coloured shoemaker is a fair
representation of the character of the blacks of his
acquaintance.
Now permit me to ask you, citizens of the free
states, what is the moral and physical condition
of your black population ? Are you authorized, in
view of a comparison between them and the south-
ern slave, to throw the first stone? The fathers
TO THE FREE STATES.
151
of these blacks were slaves. In your wisdom, you
gave them prospective freedom. Their emanci-
pation is now nearly complete. What improve-
ment have they made as a community, and what
influence have you exerted on them, and they on
you 1 Again ; with a knowledge of their habits
and character would you be willing to have a
black population, as numerous as that at the South,
added to your own 1 If I mistake not, the condi-
tion of the blacks among you, does not reflect much
credit upon your philanthropy. You hate slavery.
I fear you also hate the negro. Certainly there is
a great lack of evidence that you regard his wel-
fare. Your blacks are in many respects in a worse
condition than those in the South. They are
actually, as a body, more out of the way of im-
provement. You have no immediate intercourse
with them. You hold them at a great distance.
Generally ignorant, suffering under the ban of a
felt neglect and degradation, their liberty seems
to be comprized in a freedom to commit vice. In
a civilized and Christian community, they receive
scarcely any of its benefits. True, many of them
in the large towns are respectable waiters, barbers,
and kitchen servants, but in the country, and the
vicinity of your villages, the negroes are scattered
in rude huts — perhaps a little better than those
mentioned in Virginia — at a distance from other
habitations, and live precariously by day's work
and pilfering. The farmers generally reject their
services, because there is no dependence upon
152
TO THE FREE STATES.
them. They almost universally drink to excess,
and are otherwise in gross debasement. The
churches and public schools are indeed open to
them, but it requires a degree of hardihood but few
persons in their circumstances possess to avail
themselves of these privileges. Do the ministers
look them up, like stray sheep, and invite them to
the sanctuary ? Do the teachers encourage them
to attend school ; and if any of them come, do they
take an interest in their instruction, or turn them
off, with such attention as is " good enough for
negroes ?" Do the community, as a body, exhort,
encourage, and strive to lead them in the ways of
well doing, or do they, by their neglect and re-
proaches, pronounce them out of the pale of decency
and respectability ? In proof that the above is the
character and condition of your black population,
I appeal to the calendars of your courts, and the
records of your jails and penitentiaries. Examine
these, and see what proportion the convictions for
murder and penitentiary crimes bear to the rela-
tive population of white and black. If there is
great disparity against the latter, the cause must
be found, either in a more vicious disposition, or
in the unfavourable circumstance of his situation.
I leave you to the choice of the dilemma.
It appears to me evident, that there is deep,
unmitigated prejudice against the negro. His con-
dition and situation in the free states proclaim this.
In how many of these states can he be a legal
freeman or voter, let his property or respectability
TO THE FREE STATES.
153
be what they will? Legislative acts, and the
popular voice also, proclaim this. I will instance
only one fact, the result of the Canterbury School
in Connecticut. Public opinion was very deliber-
ately brought to bear on that question, and the
consequence was, a judgment of the highest court —
sustained by the public, and more recently sanc-
tioned by legislative enactments, in the little but
enlightened state of Connecticut, that the negro
was not a citizen, in the high and proper sense of
the term — but a being inferior to the white man.
Now it appears to me evident that justice requires
the free states to improve the condition of their
blacks, before they take any urgent steps for the
emancipation of the southern slave. The South
might now very justly say to them, if you have so
great a regard for the negro, begin at home ;
educate and elevate your own, make them good
citizens, honest and intelligent, and then you may
hold them up to the view of the world, as examples
of the capability and worth of the negro among a
community of whites. At present, we can see no
improvement in the African by emancipation^rom
your example. At least, let us have a plain example
to follow, before we are called upon to give up
our inheritance.
I have stated my conviction in a former chapter,
that slavery is destined to come to an end. But
there is no good foundation for the belief that
emancipation will be sudden or immediate. And
whenever the period arrives, the work must be
i
1
154
TO THE FREE STATES.
accomplished either by the free action of the slave
states, or a civil convulsion. Suppose for a mo-
ment, the righteous judgment of Heaven should
permit the latter, what reason have you to offer
why you should not suffer your full share of the
calamity? In a moral point of view, the North,
or free states, are not guiltless in this matter.
They have another burden to be removed, besides
the sin of being part of a slave nation. Northern
cupidity carried slaves from Africa, and sold them
to the South. And there are plenty of merchants
and sailors among you who would do it now, were
it not unlawful. Some of the most costly mansions
in New England were built with the profits of this
traffic, and still stand as monuments of its great-
ness. Why not go to the owners of this property,
and bid them sell it, and give the money to bene-
volent objects, as, in some measure, an atonement
for the guilt. In some instances the lineal de-
scendants of the slave dealer occupy the premises,
just as the sons of the original purchasers possess
the southern slave.
Some of you have heard from the lips of the old
negro, by the youthful fireside, the story of his
being ambushed and stolen by the white man,
while playing with his mates among the palms of
his native Guinea. Could the cry of Africa for
retribution be heard by mortal ears, it would fall
with appalling sound upon the Christian land of
New England and the free states. What have
they done to atone for these forgotten wrongs ?
TO THE FREE STATES.
155
Has emancipation done it? It does not acquit the
robber or assassin, to promise he will not repeat
the crime. Paying a thousand new debts will
never cancel an old one. After serving yourselves
as long as you thought prudent with these slaves,
you turned them loose upon the wide world, poor,
ignorant, friendless, without even a " God bless
you" to cheer their lot ; and now you spurn and
reproach, and heap indignity upon them, because
they do not in a moment rise up miraculously your
equals. Oh, the henrt that kindles in commisera-
tion of human suffering is ready to wish these
injured outcasts might borrow the jewels of gold,
and jewels of silver, and precious things of their
neighbours, like their fellow bondmen of old, and
like them escape in their father-land, to enjoy, with
God's blessing, the reward of their fathers' labours
in peace.
Or, what will you gain, morally or physically,
from the result of this fearful struggle? Suppose
you demand emancipation. The South repels
your demand as unjust, and dares you to the trial
of right. Will you be more prosperous, or leave
a better name, or better inheritance to your pos-
terity, or rejoice in emancipation, after the work is
accomplished by violence. Will you rejoice in the
ruins of a country — of a nation of brothers, which
your own doings have investigated 1 I have thus
imagined a scene, which may Heaven never suffer
to be realized. It is indeed not beyond the limits
of human folly, but there is great reason to hope
156
TO THE FREE STATES.
that forbearance and justice will prevail, and this
fair and glorious inheritance of ours will be spared
the horrors of a civil or a servile war.
Let the North be assured that the South is not
a whit behind her in patriotic devotion to this
Union. The South loves the Union, and is willing
to make important sacrifices for its preservation.
Through the Revolution, and in all the national
struggles since, she has borne a conspicuous part.
In this controversy, she asks, as a question of simple
justice and legal right, for the same quiet posses-
sion of her domestic policy that you enjoy in yours.
She asks it as a right conferred on her by the con-
federation of the states. So far from being an
infraction of the Constitution, she claims that it
distinctly recognizes slavery. And she will charge
you with the consequences of breaking your solemn
obligations, in sealing that instrument, if you offer
such an interference with her rights, as will lead
to a dissolution of the Union.
But you claim to be actuated by higher motives
than mere patriotism. You found your interference
upon the question of moral right — the claims of
eternal justice and truth. Exhibit your evidence
that Heaven has delegated you to sit in judgment
upon the moral conduct of your fellows, and every
good man in the Union will rally to your standard.
But your most distinguished writers on morals,
explicitly deny that you have any right to offer
coercive interference. Such a proceeding would
inevitably make matters worse.
TO THE FREE STATES.
157
Rather than consent to this, I would say, leave
slavery to the course of events ordained by Divine
Providence. I do not ask you to abate your
abhorrence of slavery. I know its strength. But
I do ask you to ponder well the course of action
you pursue : as has been said in appealing to the
South, so I say to you, sacrifice even slavery to
the Union. In view of present evil, or future retri-
bution, there can be little hesitation in the bosom
of a good man, in choosing whether to bear the
sin of belonging to a slave nation, or of taking a
part in forcibly overthrowing it. And I put this
question distinctly to the clergy of the free states,
a class of men whom 1 extensively know to be
philanthropists and republicans ; and generally
worthy of the great influence they possess on
questions of morals. In a community so intelli-
gent, and moral, and religiously influenced as the
North, the clergy will have to bear, in a great mea-
sure, the responsibility of the decision on this sub-
ject, whatever it may be.
Again. If you begin deliberately to inquire what
you shall do to correct the wrong of slavery, first
examine the heart — go down into its deepest re-
cesses, and discover, if possible, the motives from
which you are to act. The judgment is greatly
liable to be prejudiced and influenced by early
associations, and long-cherished opinions, and
modes of thinking. What is your practice, or
what agency do you exert in abolishing other
evils ? As Christians you are opposed to intem-
14
i
158
TO THE FREE4 STATES.
perance and pagan idolatry, as republicans to mo-
narchy and tyranny. But you never seriously think
of opposing these and other practices different from
your own, with any other weapons than those of
persuasion. Perhaps you will say, all these evils are
foreign ; whereas slavery is an evil in our own coun-
try, and among our own citizens. True, but for that
very reason ought you to exercise greater forbear-
ance and charity. These fellow-citizens enjoy the
same rights, privileges, immunities, and blessings as
yourselves. The liberty, civil and religious, which
you enjoy, is a common inheritance, equally
possessed, equally purchased. These citizens prac-
tise customs different from your own, and in your
view incompatible with civil liberty and moral
accountability. But is it not an unwarrantable
assurance which arraigns them before the bar of
your judgment. They acknowledge neither the
crime nor the jurisdiction of the court. You send
missionaries to convert the heathen, but you in-
struct them not to coerce, but to persuade and con-
vince the gross idolater. Have you so little faith
in the agency of these instruments in reclaiming
your equals, that you resort to violence and de-
nunciation 1
If you discovered your brother in a place of
danger of which he was unconscious, would you
endeavour to show him his situation in a kind or
a harsh manner? Would you burst forth in a
torrent of reproach at his folly or want of foresight,
in bringing himself into this danger ; or would you
TO THE FREE STATES.
159
propose some mode of relief or escape, in a spirit
of brotherly affection and sympathy ? Which does
Christian and moral benevolence dictate? Which
will have the most powerful influence, in view of
the character of human nature? Have you fol-
lowed the guidance of wisdom, and the " golden
rules" in treating this subject ? Instead of offering
friendly assistance and persuasion, have you not
oftener charged them as slaveholders, with the
crime of living in known violation of the laws of
God and man ? — while a great majority of them,
be assured, acknowledge no such crime. Instead
of exhorting them to repentance, in the spirit and
language of St. Paul, have you not frequently
denounced against them the judgments of Heaven?
Instead of offering to relieve them of a burden, you
have heaped ridicule upon it.
And especially, will you denounce all slave-
holders as on one common level ? Will you, by
your action and measures, force those back with
the multitude, who are anxiously looking for some
way of escape from their bondage ? The reason
that the South fling back every thing that comes
from the North, is the fault of the latter. The
spirit and language of the North, when speaking of
slavery, has been without discrimination ; harsh,
bitter, reproachful. There are many exceptions,
but this is the fact generally. Comparisons have
been drawn unfavourable to the South, and touch-
ing them in very sensible points. Besides this,
you make no allowance for the sanctions of time
160
TO THE FREE STATES.
and custom ; none for the peculiar circumstances,
for the long-cherished feelings and habits of slave-
holders. Believe it ; there are many men, men of
great respectability, south of the Potomac, who
consider themselves in far greater, more distressing
bondage, by the system of slavery, than their own
slaves. I say this, from a firm conviction of its
truth. There are others who are halting between
two opinions. Now I verily believe that the tend-
ency of northern action, and northern language,
and northern feeling, is to drive these men back to
a reconciliation with slavery, instead of offering
them sympathy and aid in a manner wThich they
can accept.
The modern improvements of the age in the arts
of life have in themselves no power to make men
radically better. Their aim is entirely superficial.
They have no influence upon the heart, the seat of
moral affections. Their tendency is to inflate
little man with great pride. Luxury and effemi-
nacy, vice and oppression, follow their footsteps
with fearful certainty. Nothing but that spirit of
benevolence which was manifested by Him, who,
when he was reviled, reviled not again ; whom the
direst persecution could not swerve from pursuing
the object of his mission into the world — unsought
and unrequited goodwill to men : nothing but this
spirit can save our country, or carry it safely
through the agitation and distraction of this vexing,
this momentous controversy.
CHAPTER IV.
TO THE UNION.
I. What can be done 1 Subject of vast magnitude — radical
difference of opinion.
II. Three modes of settling the question stated.
III. Faint hope that either side will abandon its position — ultra
slaveholders — violence of southern excitement a favourable omen
— no prospect of the North becoming in favour of slavery — rea-
sons— will not use force against it.
IV. Dissolution of the Union considered — its probable conse-
quences and result.
V. Third mode of settling the question — by compromise and
concession — why it may be hoped for — desirable that southern
men should express their views — prevented by abolition move-
ments.
VI. Colonization recommended — abolitionists opposed — mista-
ken philanthropy — colonization emancipation must become a
national question. South will reject every other mode — urged
from motives of regard for the welfare of the coloured race — ne-
groes cannot rise to equality with the whites — proved in the free
states — in Philadelphia — slaves to remain in the country as hired
servants considered — South will oppose it, and why — no encour-
agement from the example of the North. British emancipation
referred to — final consequences not known.
VII. Why the coloured man should go to Africa — climate con-
sidered— comparisons invited — America owes it to Africa to send
back her children. God intends it by our prosperity — government
must do it — influences of colonization on Africa. Question of
expense alluded to — money lost in Florida war.
VIII. Some slave states have begun the work — reasons for
government interference — partizan politics, the curse of our coun-
try— the only hope of benevolence in the future.
Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
I. " What can be done to settle the agitation on
the great subject of slavery ; and decide the con-
14*
162
TO THE UNION.
troversy in an amicable manner, satisfactory to all
parties; with reference to the claims of justice,
and the best interests of humanity?' This question
is often asked by men of inquisitive and reflecting
minds ; but in view of its vast magnitude, and the
difficulties which seem to bar up every avenue of
approach, human wisdom bows before it.
There is indeed no lack of propositions on the
subject. ; but none has been offered which is not
objectionable to large portions of the community.
And while the suggestions of common minds are
rejected as unequal to the exigency, men of wiser
and more comprehensive judgment will cautiously
deliberate before assenting to propositions, which,
however plausible in theory, involve an unknown
amount of experiment in the execution. It is not
the welfare of an individual which is at stake, but
a question respecting the rights and the wTell being
of six or seven millions of fellow-men. In another
view, the integrity of a nation, already one of the
first rank — and destined, as far as human foresight
can judge, to exceed all that have preceded it in
intellectual and physical power, and promising
by its youthful enterprise and intelligence to exert
a powerful agency in the great drama of human
affairs.
But the greatest obstacle to the settlement of
this question, arises from the fact, that there is
at present, beyond all controversy, a radical dif-
ference of opinion between the free and slave
states on the subject. There are great classes on
TO THE UNION'. 163
each side, whose views differ respecting various
minor points; but as communities, they will unite
on the great principles ; the latter, that slavery in
their circumstances is justifiable and lawful ; and
the former, that it is unlawful in all circumstances
whatever. Admitting these views of the case to
be correct (and I would gladly be convinced of
error if wrong), there are but three modes of set-
tling the question.
II. First. By one side giving up the principle.
Second. By a dissolution of the Union.
Thirdly. By mutual concession and compromise.
The attention of the reader is directed to some
remarks on each of these modes.
III. On the first, I purpose to be very brief, as
the former chapters have anticipated the most
prominent facts and reflections on this head.
With their present views, and in the position
they now occupy with regard to each other, there
is scarcely a ray of hope that either side will
abandon the ground it has taken. From the unfa-
vourable commencement of the controversy, the
parties are not in a mood to look at the subject
dispassionately. The consequence resulting from
the agitation thus far, is a determination of each
side to adhere to, and persist in, its sectional viewTs
with increased prejudice. Pushed but a little
further, this result will eventuate in the direst
national calamity.
164
TO THE UNION.
With regard to the South, it is impossible to
predict what influence may result from a more
sober and conciliating tone, or a proposition to
compromise, from the northern states ; nor from
the great experiments which are in progress in the
British colonies ; nor from the increasing light and
improvements of the age ; but with their present
views and feeli?igs, the South is ready to join
issue with all the world on the main question — the
right of slavery. Perhaps below the latitude of
Tennessee, a great majority hold it with Governor
McDuffie of South Carolina, who invoked Heaven
that " his posterity, to the latest generation, might
never live in any other state than one of domestic
slavery." I never saw a northern man read this
invocation without smiling. An honourable sena-
tor also from the same state, recently stated in
Congress (in substance), that every abolitionist
caught in that state should be hung, in defiance of
all earthly power.
These statements from men who may be pre-
sumed to represent the popular will in their section
— and as they have been corroborated by acts of
violence farther south, give us pretty substantial
evidence of public sentiment in the slave states.
But, as an individual, I am ready to hazard a belief
that the past violence of the South, in word and
deed, is a favourable omen. The suddenness of
southern excitement is a proof that it was not the
result of deliberate reflection; and its violence
shows that it has pre-occupied the public mind.
TO THE UNION.
165
and closed up every avenue to calm investigation.
The South is, indeed, from its state of society,
exposed to danger from the agency of incendiaries,
but not to an extent which its vigilance and cen-
sorship of the periodical press would justify. These
must be attributed, mainly, to the sudden and mad-
dening effects of the unwarned, and ill-judged
irruption of abolition philanthropy. But as the
violence of the storm is soon wasted in proportion
to its fury, so the ebullition of popular excitement
prostrates the energies of public phrenzy,and leaves
society better prepared for dispassionate and calm
reflection. That this will be the result ; that the
South will ere long condescend to discuss the sub-
ject of slavery calmly, on the question of its merits,
and with respect to its moral and political bearing
upon society, there is great reason to hope ; that
this period will be hastened or retarded, as well as
its ultimate effect influenced by the temper and
action of the free states, cannot be doubted.
That the North will abandon its principles on
this subject, there is no foundation for believing.
Having deliberately given her own slaves freedom,
it is to be presumed that she ardently wishes her
example in this respect to be universally followed.
It is in her view a question both of morals and of
interest; and although the former doubtless greatly
preponderates, yet, in both aspects, she views it as
a question deeply affecting the welfare of the South,
and affecting herself indirectly. Should the civil-
ized world, as it advances in intelligence and in
166
TO THE UNION.
the progress of free discussion, speak in terms of
reprehension of slavery, her voice would join that
of universal public opinion, for this is now decidedly
the sentiment of her people. She perhaps claims
that her own freedom gives her an elevated stand-
ing, better suited to a deliberate view of the sub-
ject ; but she may be assured that by obtaining
her information at second hand, as the mass of
society necessarily must, she is greatly liable to
mingle unreasonable prejudices with her calmest
deliberations. The action of the South on one
point, has placed a weapon in her hands, which
she will ever be prompt to wield. I allude to the
demand made by public meetings, by the press,
and if I mistake not bv some legislative assemblies,
that the North should stop the discussion of slavery
among her own citizens. In this, the South, for-
getful of her own prerogatives, made a demand,
which she would have indignantly spurned, as an
interference with the inalienable rights of freemen.
Free discussion is the very foundation on which
our liberties are based. If it is the misfortune of
the South to be placed in a situation where it will
endanger her safety, can she therefore justly re-
quire it to be silenced 1 The principle is one which
she would adhere to, as the sole arbiter of her own
interests and rights ; can she complain if other
states and other sections dictate the terms of its
being exercised among themselves.
The North will never, unless impelled by in-
fluence beyond her present vision, attempt to put
TO THE UNION.
167
down slavery by force. She is too well acquainted
with the requirements of reciprocal right, to do a
deed which would justify positive interference with
her own institutions and usages ; but that she will
continue to agitate the subject, — to discuss it freely
among her own citizens, and to exert an influence
prejudicial to slavery, cannot be questioned. It is
the very genius of her people to do this. She will
exert an influence against all slavery, without
design of intermeddling with established customs
of any state or government.
In this sense, and to this extent, nearly the whole
North are abolitionists; and the difference between
the mass of society, and those denominated im-
mediate abolitionists is, that the latter have outrun
the former in a sober, rational view of the subject,
about as far as a certain father of whom I have
heard, that in his overheated zeal for the spiritual
welfare of his family threatened to whip his chil-
dren if they would' nt pray. This I consider a fair
illustration of the state of public feeling at the
North. The great body of the people, although
ardently desiring the universal extinction of slavery,
and especially in their own country, will join the
abolitionists in their measures for its overthrow,
about as soon as the rational, intelligent portion of
the religious community, although anxiously desir-
ing the salvation of their fellow-men, will adopt
the practice of the father above-mentioned.
Thus, I have endeavoured to show the position
of the two great sections of our country, as they
168
TO THE UNION.
stand at present with regard to this question.
Let us
IV. Secondly, Take a brief view of another
mode of adjusting it, viz. by a dissolution of the
Union. The idea of such a result ought never to be
indulged for a moment. But as it has been plainly-
brought before the public, and as it has been loudly
asserted, that its dissolution would be preferable
to a constant interchange of reproachful language,
and to living in a state of increasing excitability
and apprehension ; it may be proper to look at
some of the evident consequences of such an end to
our federal government.
Has any man in his folly ever estimated the value
of this Union. Surely those men who speak of its
dissolution as a desirable event, and who threaten
to use their exertions to accomplish it, have no
adequate perception of its consequences. The
very impudence and folly of their clamor, on a
question of such unspeakable magnitude, should
cause the community to frown them into silence.
For myself, I cannot seriously reflect upon such
an event without dismay. And it is not mere
pride of country — glorious recollections of the
past, nor splendid prospects of national destiny in
future — neither is it the exultation of monarchs at
the downfall of the only republic, that excites my
fears. It is the desolations of home ; the severing
of strongest ties ; the disruption of society ; the utter
ruin of the fairest portion of the globe, just bloom-
TO THE UNION.
169
ing in its glory, over which I would throw a veil.
If this nation is destined to perish, let it share the
common lot of others, and die of old age, sunk in
luxury and corruption, rather than perish by
violence, like a youth in the pride of his strength.
In its very location ; in the circumstances of its
settlement; its independence; and in its unrivalled
blessings ; it stands on an elevation above all
which have preceded it : and if it now perish, like
the fabled monster, by tearing out its own bowels,
the record of its fate will be the darkest page in
the blood-written history of man.
The folly of this estimate is equalled only by
another — that of calculating the relative strength of
the North and South. Even this has been done —
probably, for lack of other employment. That the
free states are numerically and physically — in
almost all the available resources of a country —
superior to the South, will not be doubted ; and that
in a good cause, she might be considered, as far as
human judgment can extend, an equal match: but
before she engages in this strife, she should hear
sermons in all her thousand churches from the
words of inspiration — <fcthe race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong."
No man can take a comprehensive survey of
this great country, without being struck with the
conviction, that Divine Providence designed it to be
one nation. No other country, possessed by a
civilized people, presents the same features. Geo-
graphically it is one, and cannot be divided (as
15
170
TO THE UNION.
slavery would divide it) without opening a door
for interminable strife. If slavery is destined to
dissolve the Union, the division would probably
follow the Potomac (or Mason and Dixon's line),
and the Ohio. We will suppose the separation to
be amicably effected — the public buildings at
Washington sold — the national property, the navy,
the debt, the public documents, and the national
domain to be divided, &nd all its present interests
fairly adjusted. There is indeed some common
property belonging to the entire Union, which it
would be difficult to divide ; but in an affair of
such moment, veneration for the past would not
offer a Gordian knot of restraint. I allude to the
battle-fields of the Revolution, and the memorials
of that eventful period. The battle-fields are per-
haps nearly equally divided, and each might be
content with its share. There is Lexington, and
Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, in the North ; and
Eutaw, and King's Mountain, and Yorktown, in
the South. The portrait of the father of his coun-
try, and also that of his illustrious French com-
patriot, which now look down upon the legislative
hall of Congress, might be severed, and half given
to each section ; but as the country had so soon
attained to such a pitch of refinement, as to render
their wisdom useless, it would be more in charac-
ter to sell them to the highest bidder, as second-
hand rubbish. There are men in Europe who
would be proud of the trust of keeping these hal-
lowed memorials from sacrilegious hands ; and
TO THE UNION.
171
they might perhaps in some future ages be brought
forth to kindle a spirit of liberty, and be the patron
saints of freedom, in some colony of a tyrant realm.
The relics in the tomb of Mount Vernon, being
exposed to disturbance from their location on the
borders of the rival states, should also be expatri-
ated.
The four great pictures which adorn the capitol
at present, — belonging, as they do, two to each
side, might be given up to their respective sections.
The figure of Peace, that most exquisite specimen
of art, which salutes the rising day with her ever
placid countenance from the front portico, should
be crowned with the stars, and wrapped in the
stripes of the Union, and burnt by the executioner,
— the olive branches torn from the talons of the
eagle in the senate hall being used for faggots.
The eagle himself, the proper emblem of a great
freebooter, should be perched upon the helmet of
Mars, and carried in the van, as the presiding
genius of each army. In the present national
motto " e pluribus unurn" the last word should be
exchanged for " helium" and the disunion would
be complete.
This vast country then, embracing within its
extremities nearly twenty-five degrees of latitude,
containing sixteen millions of people, speaking the
same language, practising the same customs, and
professing the same religion ; contains two nations.
Their interests, which before were reciprocal, are
172
TO THE UNIOJV.
now, by this act of separation, become dissimilar,
and at variance.
As the most favourable view of the case, we
will assume that temporary residents in either sec-
tion are permitted to dispose of their property, and
retire ; or if they choose, to promise allegiance to
the state, and remain. One of the first steps of
every independent nation is to provide against
aggression, and to protect its own interests ; ac-
cordingly, a chain of posts is established along the
boundary from the Atlantic to the Mississippi ; and
an armed force quartered in each to prevent smug-
gling, repel invasion, and keep the peace. Where
any man may now travel without notice or obser-
vation, no man could then pass without scrutiny
or a passport.
The mighty Atlantic, which, like its great Author,
is no respecter of persons, but bears on its bosom
the people and the productions of all nations, rolls
with equal majesty and beneficence the shores of
both ; and, as it now affords a common channel for
promoting prosperity, would then offer equal facili-
ties for international strife. Each nation would
struggle to obtain a naval superiority, for the pro-
tection of its commerce, and the defence of its
maritime border. The communication between the
North and South, which is now so extensive, and
the source of so much prosperity, would be re-
stricted by the same rules that impede the corres-
pondence of foreign and distant nations. Every
cask of rice or barrel of sugar would be taxed in
TO THE UNION.
173
the North ; every bale of manufactured goods in
the South. Every letter and newspaper in passing
over the boundary would be subject to rigid inspec-
tion. The great object of each would be to enrich
and strengthen itself at the expense of its rival.
The inhabitants on' opposite sides of the Ohio might
kindle a war at any time, by shooting each other
across the river for pastime. And the seeds of dis-
sension might be disseminated with the greatest
facility, from the fact, that unprincipled men of
address and intelligence might pass from one sec-
tion through the other — the language being the
same — and spring a mine among a community
reposing in conscious security.
But the so4urce of interminable war, would be the
navigation of the Mississippi. There is not per-
haps a more powerful and universal trait of national
character than a disposition to avail itself of the
natural advantages of its situation. And this king
of rivers, which, with its thousand arms, drains the
fairest portion of the globe, was made to bear, as
it now does, the products of that portion on its
bosom. The voice of Nature on this subject is too
plain to be misunderstood. Natural obstacles,
though in part overcome by the art and industry
of man, forbid any other outlet with equal facility.
A great portion of this valley — and that portion
to which the outlet is of most importance — lies on
one side of the boundary, and the point of destina-
tion, fixed by nature, is on the other. Would the
states of the Upper Mississippi submit to be debarred
15*
i
174
TO THE UXIOX.
the free use of this natural channel ? Would the
states of the South permit this great avenue to be
common property ? The event alone can justify
an answer.
In view of all these circumstances and causes of
international strife, it may well be inquired how
long peace could be maintained between the two
sections. History will give us some light on this
question, and we need not go back to the states of
antiquity for information, — Christian history will
be sufficient for our purpose. Cite first the records
of the middle ages. Read attentively the history
of those states which overthrew the empire of the
West, and began the present monarchies of Europe;
the Goths, Franks, and Lombards, whose meagre
annals for several centuries are mostly filled with
accounts of royal fratricides and paricides — and
they will inform you how long brothers of jealous
disposition and rival interests will remain in peace.
Ask England, our venerated mother, whose records
in the time of the roses, will give the most satis-
factory evidence on this point ; for her throne is
as deeply red with fraternal blood as any in Christ-
endom. It would be needless to multiply inquiries
or state suppositions on a subject respecting which
the history of all ages concurs with every day's
experience of human character. Nothing but
Divine interposition could avert the last resort in
the case under consideration, even to the period to
which we have arrived. It cannot be longer
stayed. The war of brothers commences. Mu-
TO THE UNIOIV.
175
tual jealousies, rivalries, and heartburnings, long
cherished in secret, burst forth like the tornado in
the summer's calm.
The cause of each party is as clear by right and
just, as though written in sunbeams. With mutual
horror at such unn'atural conduct, each party ap-
peals to Heaven for justice, and for avenging the
injured, that is, its own cause. Public supplica-
tions are offered in sublime mockery for Divine aid
throughout the North and South, — and the sword
is let loose.
Hundreds of emissaries from the North, filled
with the spirit of evil, elude detection, enter the
South, excite the slaves to insurrection, and promise
them the estates of their masters. In the mean
time the energies of the South are distracted, agi-
tated as she is by a civil and a servile war, her
agriculture neglected, and her ports of commerce
blockaded. The North is divided by factions ;
many of her best citizens having ever and utterly
opposed this resort to arms. But the clamour of
the multitude prevails, and in the excitement of the
revolution a brave army is raised to^ conquer the
South. But this army finds a theatre of operations
very different from what it expected. The re-
sources of the South are distributed on a plan
differing entirely from the North. Instead of the
frequent villages and wealthy towns of the latter,
it finds abundance of pine woods to plunder, with
country mansions scattered all over the country, a
mile asunder. As it approaches a large town, a
176
TO THE UNION.
cloud of flame, a miniature Moscow, points out its
locality, and covers the retreat of the inhabitants.
To the utter surprise of these invaders, they have
to contend every step with slaves. Individuals and
squadrons and regiments of negroes oppose their
progress continually, fighting heroically for their
native soil. They enfilade the woody passages
leading to their masters' dwellings and their own,
and, like their brethren in Africa, strike their ene-
mies from the bush. As it pushes onward into the
country, a new enemy attacks the army. Disease
seizes the unacclimated, and the remnant falls an
easy prey. Another is raised, equipped, and
marched. During all this time, the arts of peace
being exchanged for the excitements and the tumult
of war, the manufactories of the North are sus-
pended ; her shipping unemployed or captured ;
her agriculture neglected ; her enterprize palzied ;
and vice and crime are the lessons of her former
industrious population.
The great courts of Europe, which have been
silent but interested spectators of this scene, now,
after the combatants appear to be exhausted, under
pretence of reconciling difficulties, become engaged
in the strife, assist the weaker sufficient to make
it an equal match for the stronger, until both
parties are completely prostrated, and the energies
of the country are destroyed. These allies, having
seized upon the most important stations, garrison
them with their own troops, under the double plea
of preserving peace, and of remuneration for
TO THE UNION.
177
services rendered ; and as for the ruined country,
they—
" Leave it alone in its glory."
Taking advantage of its prostrate condition, a
dozen young Napoleons aspire to the sovereignty.
Each gathers a rabble of lawless followers, and as
the country exhibits some symptoms of returning
life, after one-half the aspirants are defeated or
murdered, the remainder having established some
authority in different sections, and the impoverished
state willing for repose at any sacrifice, the whole
country is divided into half-a-dozen kingdoms,
ready, as soon as recovered from the desolating
scourge, to renew scenes of conquest and violence.
Such is merely the faint outline of a picture
which is impressed upon the mind in contemplating
a resort to arms as the final result of this contro-
versy. To fill up the picture, would require a
volume devoted to the extreme degree of human
madness and suffering. If God, who has been our
great benefactor, should ordain us a scourge for
our ingratitude, and let loose the spirit of anarchy
in our country, the strides we have taken in na-
tional power and prosperity would be exceeded
only by our rushing downward to ruin.
Thirdly. We have another mode of contempla-
ting the settlement of this question, which promises
a happier result. This is by concession and com-
promise. Against any proposition of this nature,
I am aware there are strong feelings and prejudices
178
TO THE UNION.
arrayed from that stubborn independence of our
people which arrogates to itself a perfection of
wisdom, and professes a readiness to defend its
opinions and vindicate its conduct to the last ex-
tremity. Some of these prejudices will be noticed
in pursuing this inquiry ; but it may be sufficient
to say here, that there is ground to hope that a
spirit of concession may prevail from the fact that
individual as well as national interests combine to
favour it. Men of the habitual reflection of the
American people, will ponder upon the certain
consequences of disunion and war, before they
consent to engage in the strife. And when each
man has looked at the stake he has in the question
— his personal interest and safety, his family, his
friends, his merchandize, his property — he will ask
at what price or sacrifice this threatening calamity
can be averted, before he decides to meet it.
And that it is a momentous question is proved
from the difficulties which surround it. It is grown
so enormous that men know not how to grasp it ;
but there is some light dawning from the right
quarter. There are many slaveholders giving
their attention deeply to the subject. I have heard
plans proposed for its extinction, which evinced a
degree of profound observation and reflection.
There are plans in contemplation among slave-
holders which are worthy of candid attention, and
of encouragement from the free states. It is
greatly desirable that some of these men could so
far overcome the obstacles and the prejudices of
TO THE UNION.
179
their situation, as to give their thoughts to the
public. It would elicit inquiry, and they would
find many others seeking for information, to
whose minds their suggestions, and the fact that
the subject of emancipation was exciting public
attention at home, would afford relief and gratifica-
tion. I know the reply which will be made to this
suggestion, viz., that the measures of the aboli-
tionists have entirely precluded any such action
among slaveholders at present. That it would be
unworthy of the South to make any propositions
touching emancipation in any form, while the aboli-
tionists were menacing them with ruin. But from
this view of the subject I beg to dissent. It is pay-
ing the abolitionists a compliment which they do
not deserve. They are but a small fraction of
northern society, and shall they suspend and ob-
struct theaction of the community, both North and
South, on subjects of national interest? But another
reason may be offered why this is the proper time
for southern men to offer their plans. The move-
ments of abolitionists have awakened public atten-
tion at the North to the subject of slavery, and
the majority of the people, although not approving
their measures, are inquiring for information, and
are just in a position to receive favourably any pro-
position which, while it exposes the errors and
mischiefs of immediate abolition, shall offer some
feasible plan for doing away the evil. If no such
proposition is offered — if every thing which comes
from the South, looks only to the perpetuation of
180
TO THE UNION.
slavery — multitudes of this northern majority will
probably either settle down into the unwilling belief,
that slavery is an unremediable evil, or will fix their
attention and their hopes upon some modification
of abolition.
With these views, the writer calls upon the
South for such declarations of their wishes and
intentions, without compromising their own inte-
grity and honour, or yielding to the fanatical spirit
of immediate abolition, as may lead the awakened
feeling of the North to adopt measures for pre-
serving the public tranquillity, and calm its agita-
tion by manifesting a disposition to at least
investigate the merits of the subject.
And I wTould not startle the patriotism or self-
interest of the reader, in declaring, that by conces-
sion or compromise, I avow a firm conviction,
that colonization offers the best, the only true plan
of bringing this controversy to a happy issue — and
of making a freeman of the slave. I am aware
that my patriotism and philanthropy will both be
called in question for this avowal ; but to such per-
sons I have only to say that a candid and thorough
investigation of the subject has forced this convic-
tion upon me, in spite of powerful and opposing
prejudices. And the deliberate attention of the
reader is invited to the facts and the reasons
which will now be given for this conviction.
The idea of transporting all the slaves back to
Africa, seems at first view utterly chimerical ; and
so the writer once viewed it. But the work is not
TO THE UNION.
181
beyond the reach of possibility ; and the rule of a
good man respecting a good work is, if he cannot
do all he would, he will do all he can. If we can-
not remove all the blacks, certainly we can relieve
those portions of the country where slavery is be-
coming a burden. On this point I should regret
not having the aid and co-operation of abolitionists.
I know they are capable of exerting a powerful
influence in this cause, and am confident that it is
a mistaken philanthropy which leads them to op-
pose it. They have entirely different views of
human nature from the mass of men, if they think
to elevate the negro to an equality with the whites
in this country. And unless they possess the
power of foreknowledge, and are acting under the
inspiration of what shall be at some future period,
it is almost self-evident, that their success in the
measures which they now so strenuously urge,
will result in the injury of the coloured race, both
present and prospective. At least such is the con-
clusion of the writer, in contemplating this subject,
in the light of past experience.
I recollect once suggesting the proposition of
purchasing the slaves, for the purpose of emanci-
pating them, to an abolitionist of some notoriety,
when he immediately replied — " what! buy stolen
property 1 no, never." To what extent the views of
this man are those of abolitionists generally, I
know not ; but would make a few remarks on this
point, for the reflection of all northern men. If
the negroes were stolen, the North is at least as
16
182
TO THE UNION.
deeply implicated in the crime as the South. If
there is national dishonour in slavery, the North is
a partaker in it. If it is to be blotted out in blood,
she will inevitably furnish a share. If emancipa-
tion can be amicably effected, she must and ought
to bear a part of the burden.
That the subject of colonization emancipation is
becoming one of increasing interest, is evident from
the fact that some of the slave states have state
societies formed for encouraging it, which receive
legislative aid. And the time is not distant, when
the question of African colonization will be agi-
tated in the national capitol. Emancipation
must become a subject of national interest, of na-
tional deliberation and effort. And I should rejoice,
were there such a tone of feeling in the country,
expressed through the state legislatures and local
assemblies, as should demand of Congress to offer
to transport to Africa at the national expense, and
provide for their temporary maintenance, all the
slaves which should be offered by their masters,
and all the indigent free blacks who should offer
themselves, to return to their father-land. While
these were in progress of removal, another propo-
sition might be made to purchase all that should be
offered within a limited price and time. By this
means public attention would be drawn to this
mode of emancipation, and by their gradual re-
moval the utility and expediency of colonization
on a large scale would be tested. Should the cur-
rent of popular feeling among the blacks be directed
TO THE UNION.
183
strongly into this channel, it would soon break
down every barrier, and its force become irresisti-
ble. Not only the slave and the indigent freeman,
who would be aided in their removal, but the man of
property, would be anxious to emigrate to join a
community where his respectability and influence
would be something more than nominal, and not
entirely overshadowed and obscured by his supe-
riors. To this plan, I am aware there are strong
objections, but I cannot believe the objectors have
deliberately canvassed the subject. The question
of colonization has entered into the discussions
between the North and South on slavery, and each
section has imbibed prejudices against it — the
North professing to believe that the South encou-
raged it from interested motives of making slavery
more secure ; and the latter jealous of every thing
emanating from the North, looked upon it as the
incipient movement of a society, whose ultimate
object was the overthrow of slavery.
This result has been produced by the abolition
excitement, since which, for the reasons just men-
tioned, the Colonization Society has received less
favour from the public, than in the first years of
its existence. But whatever may be the fate of this
society, the cause is a good one, and must prevail.
My belief in its goodness is based upon observation
of human nature and experience of the past — in
its prevalence, is founded upon the wisdom, justice,
and humanity of my countrymen.
First. The South will not listen a moment to
184
TO THE UNION'.
emancipation in any other mode. Those who are
opposed to slavery from principle, and those who
would be relieved from it as a burden, look only to
colonization for relief. They are certainly the
best judges of their situation, both present and pros-
pective, and the opposer of colonization may choose
between the practicability of changing the public
sentiment of an entire community of millions, and
the propriety of co-operating in measures of their
own adoption. But this fact of southern opposition
to emancipation, except the slaves are sent out of
the country, is altogether a secondary considera-
tion in advocating colonization. Even if they
should consent to a full and free unconditional
abolition, I would still urge colonization upon the
negro. I would plead for it then, as I do now, first
and chiefly, for the very reason that the immediate
abolitionists profess to oppose it; that is, from
motives of regard for the welfare of the coloured
race. I must acknowledge a full conviction, that
it is out of the question to elevate the negro to an
equality with the whites in this country. And this
conviction is the result of a calm and deliberate
consideration of the condition — not of the servile
and degraded southern slave — but of the eman-
cipated blacks and their descendants in the free
states.
I cannot reflect upon this condition, without
adopting the language of another — " he can never
rise, he is a negro IM In proof of this, go to New
England, the land of the pilgrims, the boasted home
TO THE UNION.
185
of Christianity, of good morals, of political freedom,
of unfeigned philanthropy, and of charitable insti-
tutions. There the slave has been free for near
half a century, and what is his condition? Where
is his place in the family, even of the parish minis-
ter? Where in the church, and at the eucharist?
He is a man, a man of intelligence, of integrity, of
property. But can he vote ? Has he any politi-
cal rights? He has been knocking at your legis-
lative doors repeatedly for redress of grievances,
for removal of his disabilities, for equal, Declara-
tion-of-Independence, rights and privileges — and
the only response he has ever obtained is " you are
a negro." His property is taxed, but he has no
voice in the taxation — a violation of the very prin-
ciple for which your and his forefathers dared to
resist the power of the mother country. He is a
native of the state ; and if reputation, industry, and
knowledge can make a man respectacle, he is
entitled to the appellation: but you trample him
under foot, and impart the right of suffrage and
citizenship to a degraded, ignorant foreigner, who
is in every respect (except the colour of his skin)
his inferior. He is subject to the most degraded
caste. You do not hesitate to come in the closest
personal contact with the negro, as a barber, or a
body servant, but a Jew would sooner eat pork
than you would sit at the same table with him. In
this remark I speak of the great body of society.
Your daughters would be disgraced in associating
16*
18G
TO THE UNION.
with parties of black females. Even now they
shudder at the bare idea.
I have before stated that southern men ought
never to reproach the North on the subject of amal-
gamation. May it not be said, with much greater
emphasis, that the North should be cautious in
reproaching the South for infracting the plain letter
of Jefferson's Declaration, by denying the blacks
their freedom. The latter openly avow a right to
keep them in servitude; the former have granted
them a freedom, which at the same time they
acknowledge to be counterfeit, by withholding from
them those privileges which they themselves con-
sider the essential rights of freemen.
Again. Look at Philadelphia, the boasted city
of loving brothers, and of good order. You would
not believe, from a knowledge of its past history,
or a walk through its quiet streets, that materials
for a mob could be found in the whole city and
liberties ; but even Philadelphia is moved, when
the African dares a step above his level. A white
and a negro walk the streets of Philadelphia, arm
in arm! — will posterity believe it! — and Pennsyl-
vania Hall is fired to see the spectacle.
Take the most respectable coloured person in
the community, and what is the current observa-
tion respecting him 1 Why exactly this ; that he
is very smart for a negro. The mere report of
an intermarriage between a white and black would
throw any city of the North into a ferment.
If this is the condition and the standing of the
TO THE UNION.
187
negro in the free states fifty years after emancipa-
tion, how long a period will be required to place
him on a level with the whites ? When this ques-
tion is satisfactorily answered, some opinion may
be formed of the time requisite to elevate the
southern slave to the same equality.
But, it will be answered, public opinion is wrong
in consigning the negro to degradation. Admit
it, and what follows ? Will the true philanthropist
spend his life in fruitless struggles to overcome an
unconquerable prejudice against the coloured man;
or take advantage of that prejudice to place him
in a situation, where he may exert all the faculties
of his nature for his own benefit? A sort of infamy
is every where attached to a state of slavery, and
this with his sable complexion fixes an indelible
mark upon the negro, which can never be effaced
until human nature is radically changed. This
country is not the home of the negro ; it never can
be.* He may continue to live here, but he can
never assert the privileges of a freeman ; can never
de velope his powers. He will always be an outcast,
trodden under foot, a hewer of wood and drawer
* " You may set the negro free, but you cannot make him
otherwise than an alien to the European. — The moderns
then, after they have abolished slavery, have three prejudices
to contend against, which are less easy to attack and far less
easy to conquer, than the mere fact of servitude; — the pre-
judice of the master, the prejudice of the race, and the
prejudice of colour."
De Tocqukville, Democracy in America,
188
TO THE UNION.
of water. He has no better inheritance in pros-
pect for his children, than to be servants of ser-
vants. In view of this nearly universal prejudice,
many of the best men of the North are decidedly
in favour of colonization ; and I doubt not also
the greater portion of the community who have
soberly investigated the subject.
And here the opposer alike of colonization and
slavery will inquire, why not free the slave, and
let him remain as a hired servant? I answer,
chiefly for the reasons just stated. This plan offers
at first view a very plausible mode for extinguish-
ing slavery, and elevating the negro, and as such
deserves attention. I have ever believed that if
the South would adopt it, it would relieve her from
very great present embarrassments. The negro
would have a motive to labour, to exercise frugal-
ity and economy, which he cannot have in his
present state. If the planter should divide his cul-
tivated fields among his labourers, and. offer a pre-
mium for the greatest product, he would realize a
larger profit. The fear of insurrection, a suspicion
of which now makes every man's ear to tingle,
would be entirely removed. The resources of the
whole South would no doubt be greatly increased.
But I am aware that the South looks upon this
proposition as one bearing the impress of folly
upon its very face, and giving rise to no emotions
but those of contempt and ridicule. Perhaps the
best men would reject it instantly. The whole
South would reject it unanimously. Nevertheless
TO THE UNION.
189
this fact does not alter my opinion. I cannot
believe it a futile project, until the experiment
shall have been tried. But still its ultimate results
— taking the experience of the North, and a know-
ledge of human nature for our guides — are far from
being clear or satisfactory. Certainly, I should
not hesitate to declare a preference for coloniza-
tion, in comparison with this plan. The one offers
certain advantages for the negro, the other must
be comparatively a doubtful experiment. It has
been shown, what is the present condition of the
blacks in the free states — that their freedom is
merely nominal ; and from that we may form an
opinion of the slow progress which the blacks of
the South would make in improving themselves.
In considering this point, we must not lose sight of
the agents by which this change is to be effected.
If the slaves are emancipated, the act must be done
by southern legislators. Suppose for a moment
they consent to try the experiment of emancipa-
ting the slaves without removing them. He has
studied human character to very little purpose,
who does not at once perceive that in the steps
preliminary to this event, effectual measures for
self-defence would be taken. Various enactments
would be made with reference to the probable con-
sequences of such an event ; and one not the least
important would have a direct bearing upon the
political rights of the blacks. Would the right of
suffrage be extended to them, or would this prero-
gative of freemen be fenced around with so many
190
TO THE UNION.
barriers, that but few of them would be able to
surmount them for generations. The laws would
most certainly be so framed as to exclude them
forever, if possible, from any share in state or
national legislation. Were the right of suffrage
given them to the same extent that is now prac-
tised in some of the free states, they would control
every department of government in more than one
of the slave states, at the very next following
election. And I need not ask, what southern, but
what northern legislator would consent to occupy
a seat in the representative hall with a negro !
The consequence of such freedom as they would
obtain, would be, either a degraded state of inferi-
ority— or if the blacks should increase faster than
the whites (a very probable supposition), they
would soon be in a condition to demand equal
rights.
But again ; these slaves are set free, exceedingly
ignorant, totally destitute of property. Accustomed
to entire direction in all their employments, they
are now cast off, and told to provide for them-
selves. They have nothing to commence with, no
houses, lands, tools, or trades; and though used to
labour, very few of them have sufficient intelli-
gence to direct their labours to a useful purpose
or a profitable result. Would not a community of
whites in such circumstances be satisfied with the
gross indulgences of sensual propensities, and drag
out a miserable existence rather as brutes than as
men. What then can be hoped from the negro,
TO THE UNION.
191
who, in addition to his exertions for personal advan-
tage in the most unfavourable circumstances, has
to combat every step with an unconquerable pre-
judice against his colour, deepened by a recollec-
tion of his late servile condition. To the prejudice
which now consigns him to a secluded degrada-
tion in the intelligent, enlightened free states, would
be added a strong, ever wrakeful suspicion at the
South, arising from the physical inequality of the
blacks.
In view of these almost certain results, I cannot
perceive how the friend of the African race can
wish him to remain in this country as a freeman.
Great rejoicings have been made in some parts of
the country, at the emancipation of the slaves in
the British colonies in our neighbourhood. I shall
be glad, if these rejoicings do not prove to be pre-
mature. Every good man and friend of his race,
must rejoice at the abandonment or extinction of
slavery, wherever it offers a prospect of improving
the condition of the slave ; and every such man
will believe that freedom is preferable to slavery
in every case, until observation and experience
disprove the fact. Very contradictory reports
have been published respecting the operation of
the apprenticeship system, and abolition in the
British islands ; but sufficient has been elicited to
convince the writer of the following facts : — That
full emancipation is safe for the master — that the
negro slave is the same passive machine in Ja-
maica as in the southern states, and that he is
192
TO THE UNION.
looked upon as the same degraded inferior — that
continual altercation will arise between the em-
ployer and the hireling in such cases respecting
wages — and that the latter has little to hope from
his late master, in aiding his improvement in any
respect. The consequences of this measure cannot
be known with certainty any faster than time
develops them, although it will, no doubt, event-
ually tend to the improvement of the negro. We
should, however, be cautious in all our specula-
tions on this subject, and especially in comparisons
between the state of these colonies and our own
country. The former are not independent states,
but entirely under the control of the British crown
or Parliament; consequently the government of
England not only dictates the time and mode of
emancipation, but the condition of the freedmen
with regard to citizenship. The present popular
feeling of the, British nation indicates that this will
be favourable to the negro. In view of these facts
there can be little doubt that one result of colonial
emancipation will be an ultimate abandonment of
the island to the blacks, unless the whites should
choose to live under their legislative control.
VII. But there is a better prospect for the slave
in the land of his fathers. Tropical Africa appears
to be the home destined by the Creator for the
negro, and has been the residence of his race, from
time immemorial. There is room enough even in
the vicinity of the coast of Upper Guinea for all
TO THE UNIOW. 193
the black population of the Union ; as but a very-
small part of its luxuriant soil has been brought
under cultivation. There the negro can stand
erect in his manhood, and, in the face of his
brother, behold only an equal. No master has
power to task him, or make him feel continually a
consciousness of bitter degradation. He may there
assert the rights and dignity of a freeman, and
cultivate the faculties which God has given him.
If he has enterprize, there is a sufficient field for its
exercise in the unknown regions of his father-land.
If he has learned any thing valuable, in his state
of vassalage, he can there turn it to his own ad-
vantage. If he is capable of exciting an influence
upon Africa in favour of Colonization and Christi-
anity, she needs it all. His religion, his character,
his intellect, are here thrown into the shade, by his
white superiors ; there they may be exerted for
his own benefit, and the improvement of his be-
nighted countrymen. Here, in the most favoura-
ble circumstances, he obtains but a partial reward
for his labour — he is surrounded by an influence
which neutralizes his utmost exertions — there, he
has to compete only with equals, and may obtain
a reward bounded only by the limits of his indus-
try, his enterprize, and skill. His employments
here are the same which will be in request there.
Here he cultivates the earth, and another enjoys
the harvest. There he may survey his cotton or
cane-field with a conscious pride of feeling that
the fruits of his toil are all his own. The pro-
17
194
TO THE UNION.
ducts of his country will find a ready market, and
he may even come in competition with his old
master in producing the staple articles of com-
merce. Even now the coffee of Liberia is in
demand through the Union. Her cotton, sugar,
and rice are of the best quality, and there is no
question but she may cultivate all the productions of
the tropics, including the teas, the spices, the dyeing
vegetables, and the drugs of India. Of the finest
fruits she has a profusion almost without cultiva-
tion, equal to any other section of the globe.
But, it will be answered, the climate of tropical
Africa is unhealthy for immigrants. This is un-
doubtedly true. It is a well known fact that emi-
grants from a northern to a southern climate, or
from an old settled to a new country, must go
through a process of acclimation, in which more
or less die. This is abundantly evident, from the
progress of population in our own country. But
from impressions on my own mind, without refer-
ence to tabular statements, I am decidedly of
opinion that the coloured emigrants to Liberia
have enjoyed greater immunity from fatal diseases
than emigrants from one part of our own country
to another. The mortality among them has been
incomparably less than among the first settlers of
Plymouth or Jamestown : and I doubt not a less
proportion of American emigrants die in Liberia,
than of slaves who are carried from the northern
slave states to the southern, or of white emigrants
from the eastern states to the western country.
TO THE UNION.
195
Those who doubt the correctness of this statement
are invited to furnish the facts, and give, in tabular
form, the data from which a comparison may be
made. It is, if I mistake not, generally admitted
that Liberia is a very healthy country for the
natives, and as much so at least, as tropical cli-
mates generally to foreign residents of temperate
habits. A large majority of the whites who have
gone there, and resided more than a year in the
service of the Colonization Society, have survived,
although many of them were from the northern
states of this country. A number of these were
in this country during the last year, and their evi-
dence on the subject is entirely worthy of credit.
But so important a point as healthfulness of the
climate should be duly weighed in connection with
the removal of a numerous population ; and who-
ever, on either side, should make wanton mistate-
ments on this subject to favour the designs of a
party, can be looked upon in no other light than a
trifler with human existence.
Does not America owe it to Africa, to send back
her children, and their descendants. We have
used them as servants for nearly two centuries,
and have made them no equivalent. If they have
become wiser, it has been accidental, not a posi-
tive gift. They have engrafted some of our worst
vices on their own. Our forefathers were among
the first who engaged in the horrible traffic of
slaves, and were thus guilty, in a great measure, of
exciting those murderous wars, which have torn
196
TO THE UNION.
and scourged that unhappy country for ages. We
may pay the debt in part by returning those over
which we have control; by placing them in hap-
pier circumstances, and making the settlements a
barrier to the coast trade in slaves. And as the
whole nation is guilty in this matter, and as the
whole, also, has been profited by the toil of the
slave, his redemption and welfare becomes an
object of national importance. Not until the nation
becomes interested in the subject, will the work be
accomplished. It is too vast, too burdensome, to
be effected by an individual, a society, or a state.
And the resources of the country are equal to the
mighty enterprize. Has not God been our bene-
factor to put into our hands the means of paying this
enormous debt. He has given us peace (with
very slight intermissions) from the commencement
of our national existence, and multiplied our riches
without measure. The whole period of fifty years,
has been one scarcely interrupted scene of onward,
onward increase and prosperity, heretofore un-
known in the annals of the wTorld. Our population
has quadrupled, our means increased a hundred
fold. I cannot review this scene of progressive
welfare without a conviction that God intends a
great offering shall be made, to remove from our
midst an entire people, by whose burdens this
great accumulation has in part, been produced.
We stand in relation to the Africans, as the Egypt-
ians stood to Israel ; and as sure as the latter wrere
liberated, so surely must these be released. It is
TO THE UNION.
197
needless to go into the evidences of this coming
event. They are distinctly perceptible to every
Christian, and philanthropist, and patriot. The
great question is, shall we come forward as a peo-
ple, and make the time and mode of their discharge
a great thank offering, becoming the magnanimity
of a nation which is above the fear of an outward
foe ; or shall we grasp the possession, as the lion
grasps the lamb, until the decree for emancipation
shall be executed after suffering all the plagues of
Egypt. And the real philanthropist is equally
confident of the ultimate redemption of the slave,
and the necessity of sending him home to Africa.
He must needs go back, not only for his own wel-
fare, but for enlightening his countrymen. The
day is dawning, in which Ethiopia is to be civil-
ized and Christianized.
And although this undertaking appears so vast,
and apparently unattainable, its difficulties will
gradually disappear when the work is commenced
in earnest. When this shall be done, there will be
less want of means than of willingness to apply
them. The resources of the nation are annually
accumulating far beyond what would be required
for this object, by the most ardent and active inter-
est in its accomplishment. We have presented
the singular spectacle of a nation, receiving more
revenue than it knew what to do with; and with
prudence and integrity in the national councils,
such a period is before us again. The very opera-
tion of our present national system and laws, will
17*
198
TO THE UNION.
produce such a result continually, while we have
wisdom to keep in peace wTith the nations. Either
of two items of the national revenue, that from the
customs or the public lands, would be sufficient to
effect this great wTork in a progressive manner.
Will this application, so equal, so little burdensome,
so just, and for the accomplishment of so import-
ant an object, be denied 1 And will not the nation
demand that the navy be enlisted in and devoted
to this great work? The ships of war, which are
now decaying in the harbours, and the gallant
men who are rusticating on shore for want of em-
ployment on the ocean, should be engaged in this
business, greatly to reduce the expense, and to
benefit the service. By the agency of this single
power, as many might be transported (at the least
expense) as could be advantageously settled in
Africa for some years to come. And it would be
a spectacle worthy of our infant but energetic
Union., to see the ocean covered with American
vessels, as transports and convoys, carrying back
to their father-land, that portion of our population
which is extensively regarded by some of the most
enlightened nations as a dark spot upon our na-
tional character. The songs of a nation redeemed,
swelling over the ocean, would be re-echoed with
great joy, by all human intelligence. Such a spec-
tacle would show to the admiration of the world,
that the boasted motto of our statesmen and am-
bassadors— " equal and exact justice to all men" — -
is not an unmeaning or false declaration, and would
TO THE UNION.
199
elevate us in the estimation of the wise and good,
more than the gaining of a hundred battles, or the
exhibition of Roman valour.
By engaging in this enterprize on a scale suited
to its magnitude, treaties would be entered into
with native tribes, and cessions of territory re-
quired, by which we should check and assist to
extinguish the merciless slave trade ; a work in
which our government has but slightly co-opera-
ted, from motives of national policy, on which I
need not animadvert. With the reputation and
the resources of the nation to sustain it, this under-
taking should not be carried on in a parsimonious
manner. The negro should not be sent empty
away. The destitute should be provided with
homes, and every family a lot in proportion to its
numbers, that they might in reality sit under their
own vine and fig tree.
The accomplishment of this enterprize, or even
its vigorous commencement, would form an era
in the history of Africa, and its influence could
not be otherwise than salutary. These ransomed
servants would carry the Bible and the Christian
ministry along with them, and churches and schools
would be established in all their borders. It would
be a land of Goshen, not like that of old ; but the
light in their dwellings would shine afar, and il-
luminate the gross darkness of that mighty con-
tinent. The news of their coming would be spread
abroad, and barbarian kings from the vast interior
would send messengers to hold " palaver " with
200
TO THE UNION.
the Christian foreigners. Their example might
teach these rude nations, that the arts of peace
were preferable to the horrors of war. With
wise governors and counsellors to mould the infant
state ; with a sufficient number of workmen in the
useful arts ; with the blessings of Christianity and
civilization ; it would possess advantages, which
few incipient colonies ever enjoyed. By its in-
dustry, and enterprize, in developing its agricul-
tural resources, this infant nation would repay in
a few generations all the burdens imposed by its
establishment in its contributions to American
commerce.
To those who shrink from the contemplation of
this project — the purchase and transportation of
the slaves — in view of the expense, let me suggest
a reflection for my countrymen on the objects for
which enormous sums of money are now expended
by the nation. I will instance only one, the Florida
wrar. It is painful to reflect upon the insatiability
of a false national honour. The sum which has
been expended, estimated at $20,000,000, in com-
bating a handful of Indians without subduing them,
would purchase a territory in Africa large enough
for all the black population in the Union, and
build them houses to live in ; or a thousandth
part of it would have secured the friendship of
these savages, instead of making them inveterate
enemies.
But the national honour was said to be in
jeopardy ; and to sustain this, the people have as
TO THE UNION.
201
yet quietly submitted to this enormous expense.
But if national renown has any connection with
the prodigal expenditure of money, we shall have
a niche in the temple of glory. Future history
will secure us the undying fame of putting forth
the energies of 'a mighty nation against fifteen
hundred rude barbarians, and killing them at an
expense of fifty thousand dollars per head. Fifty
odd millions more will extinguish the tribe, unless,
as in mercantile affairs, the capitation value should
be increased as the number is lessened. But even
if the recent project of building a wall of living
men across the peninsula, to repress their incursions,
should succeed, and no more millions be demanded
at present — the glory of the past is at least secure,
and wre may be assured that posterity will do us
justice. I regret to mar the joy of this prospective
fame, by suggesting that the price of killing one
Indian would have given a new and happier life
to a hundred negroes. But Indians and negroes
are very different men, and national honour and
national benevolence are at present far from being
convertible terms.
VIII. In closing this appeal, the writer begs
serious attention to the following remarks, as a suit-
able appendix to the subject. It has been hinted,
that emancipation must become a subject of na-
tional interest and effort. On this point I am
satisfied that reflection and discussion will produce
a degree of unanimity as to the fact, however
202
TO THE UNION.
the people may disagree respecting the extent and
application of the national resources. There is a
tone of independent feeling and action in the South,
which in two or three states has already begun
the work of Colonization, and when fully awakened,
will go far towards effecting the object ; but even
should state action be sufficient for the purpose,
the interposition of government would be required
in directing their plans to unity of design. Unless
the national standard should he raised in Africa,
and a governor or board of control have supreme
jurisdiction, petty jealousies would break out into
anarchy and collisions between the emigrants and
colonial governments of the different states, and
thus all the great objects of Colonization w7ould be
defeated. There can be little doubt that when the
current of popular feeling on this subject shall
run in the proper channel, it will give the helm of
direction to the national legislature. The popular
will is the supreme dictator, the federal govern-
ment is its agent. The great object at present
should be to diffuse information. There are power-
ful influences already at work, and if the opposing
sentiments are left to combat in open field, the
truth will be elicited by their collision. Nothing
can be effected now, but an appeal to the good
sense and sober judgment of the people, for there
is no room for its admission into legislation. There
is a struggle too engrossing, between the ins and
outs of party, to listen to matters of purely be-
nevolent import. It is the curse and disgrace of
TO THE UNION.
203
our country, that the demon of party feeling and
party interest sits enthroned in the capital, — and
not only in the capital, but the state governments.
Every where the predominant party stretches its
prerogative to the utmost. No influence is allowed
to the minority, no patriotism recognized, although
it constitutes perhaps nine-twentieths of the people;
no personal reputation, no amount of public service
can shield the man from proscription and obloquy,
who does not fall down and worship the great
idol of party. Legislation seems to be not for
the nation, but for the party. The very spirit
which actuates a victorious army, maddened by
an obstinate conflict, to rush onward over a beaten
and retiring foe, appears to govern our political and
legislative action. Perhaps the reader may sup-
pose these remarks to be levelled at the present
administration. It is difficult to decide which
side is the most deserving. The spirit manifested
by the opposition gives but too much evidence,
that its first acts of power would be exercised in
effacing every vestige of the present party domina-
tion. The writer is no party follower. If he loves
Caesar less, it is because he loves Rome more.
There are indeed some appeals to patriotic prin-
ciples, some assertion of independent thought in
the debates of the capitol; but the loaves and fishes
of office are evidently the great object of patriotic
ardor. And it is loudly proclaimed by the clamor-
ous patriots of the leading presses on both sides,
that the very hope of freedom depends upon the
204
TO THE UNION.
success of their doctrines and measures. A wise
man of old had these very Solomons in mind,
when he said " truly ye are the men, and wisdom
shall die with you." The government is yet in
the hands of the people. If they have not sufficient
virtue and knowledge to retain it, they will be the
first to feel the weight of anarchy and despotism.
If they permit their eyes to be blindfolded, and
themselves led by those whom they sustain and
support, they cannot complain if they are brought
to the very brink of the precipice. In the present
state of the public mind, there is little room for
the exercise of patriotic benevolence. Amid the
storm and tumult of partizan rancor, the welfare of
the slave or the interest of his master, are subjects
of secondary importance. Even should the ques-
tion be now agitated as one having a national
bearing, it would be swallowed up in the vortex
of party. The lover of his country and his fellow-
men, can only exert an individual influence in
endeavouring to diffuse facts, and awaken a spirit
of inquiry ; leaving to Infinite Wisdom to curb the
elements of discord and party selfishness ; and
bring about a period, when men shall live and act
for the well-being of their fellow-men.
205
CONCLUSION.
In revising this brief work for the press, after
several months' delay since it was first written,
the writer begs the indulgence of the reader in
offering a few additional observations, and making
some explanatory remarks to prevent misappre-
hension.
First, however, he would state that a more
careful observation, and a more extended survey
of the whole field of controversy, including a some-
what enlarged acquaintance with abolition periodi-
cals— although residing himself among a slave
community — have resulted in a stronger convic-
tion that the positions laid down, and the facts
stated in this work, are in the main, correct. In
expressing his views in the foregoing pages, the
writer is not aware of being influenced by any
sinister motives, nor can he, on the other hand, lay
claim to any very excitable feelings of com-
placency, in prospect of receiving the flattering
encomiums of any party, to which these pages are
18
206
CONCLUSION.
particularly addressed. He never asked himself
respecting anything he was about to write, "what
will slaveholders say to this?" or "how will aboli-
tionists relish that V9 He has expressed his own
opinions, and aimed at stating facts without regard
to fear or favour of any man or body of men.
He never was a member of any society, having
any connection with the question of slavery, nor
did he take any person's counsel with regard to
the propriety of what he was about to write.
The impressions made on his mind, by a slight
acquaintance with practical slavery, induced a
wish to throw some light on the vexed and agi-
tated subject; and when this wish began to assume
a tangible form in writing, the great and important
inquiry, — " what do truth, and justice, and future
accountability require V9 was kept continually in
view. That strong language has been frequently
used, and that the free states have received a large
share of pointed rebuke in the foregoing pages,
is freely admitted : that the sentiments addressed
to any section or class of the community, are more
severe than truth and facts will warrant, will be
cheerfully acknowledged, on conviction. The
writer claims no exemption from the frailties or
infirmities of humanity — he only bespeaks the in-
dulgence of wiser men, that the errors of the head
may not be imputed to the heart.
That his inquiries and observations should result
in recommending Colonization was entirely un-
CONCLUSION.
207
foreseen at the commencement. He once laughed
at the impracticable scheme, and, with a good
portion of the abolition prejudice against it, set it
down as an enterprize, something worse than
visionary. But a candid view of both sides of the
question, and a deliberate survey of the whole
controversy, has resulted in an entire conviction
that this plan offers the only feasible, benevolent,
effectual remedy for American slavery. Were
his circumstances such as to warrant the under-
taking, he would willingly devote his humble ef-
forts, to persuading and assisting the injured and
degraded coloured population of the free states, to
go back to the home of their fathers. He knows
of no field, in which true benevolence could be
more usefully employed.
Again, the writer is aware that he will be
charged by the spirit of modern abolition, with
feeling a strong sympathy for slaveholders. In
one sense he pleads guilty to this charge ; and he
is confident a large number of abolitionists would
do the same, if they were acquainted with slavery.
He would vindicate slaveholders, when they are
traduced — when arraigned before a tribunal to
which they owe no submission, — and when the
misdeeds of a fraction are imputed to the whole
body. Beyond this, the charge cannot be sub-
stantiated. If denounced as a defender of "hor-
rible cruelty," or even wishing to perpetuate slavery,
I would only answer, " it is a small thing to be
208
CONCLUSION.
judged of man's judgment." But I am frank to
declare, that the more slavery and abolition are
brought into contrast, the more I am convinced
there are two sides to the question. Are not the
abolitionists aware that slaves were bought and
sold and advertised in Boston as common occur-
rences, before the Revolution — and that when it
was abolished, or about to be abolished, many-
slaves w7ere carried from the North and sold to the
southern planters, to save a loss ? Do not they
very wrell know that slavery wras forced upon the
colonies by the mother country, and one of the
colonial assemblies sharply rebuked, (and its peti-
tions rejected), for remonstrating against it. But
they will say, " we have now abolished it entirely :"
true, and presuming upon the act, you are now
saying in effect — " stand by, for I am holier than
thou." This spirit will never effect peaceable
emancipation. — Neither will the good sense of the
community ever resolve to pull down slavery,
because there are bad men, monsters, engaged in it.
After publishing the horrible atrocities of the sys-
tem in their periodicals for years, the abolitionists
have collected the whole series into one volume,
with large additions, to " astound" the people with
the horrid cruelties of slavery. This volume
contains the evidence of a " thousand witnesses.'i
Are the slaveholders of thirteen states to be de-
nounced as out of the pale of humanity, by these
thousand witnesses? Suppose some one should
CONCLUSION".
209
bring the testimony of a thousand witnesses to
prove that slaveholders were kind, humane, and in-
dulgent ? — would abolitionists allow the testimony
on one side, as an offset to the other 1 But again,
say the abolitionists, — " human nature is so bad,
that where men have the power of slaveholders,
the will abuse it." Let us apply this argument
to another subject. Human nature loves rum so
well, that wherever men can get it, they will drink
to excess. And would the people of New Eng-
land quietly submit to the insinuation, that the
whole mass of society were drunkards, because
a thousand witnesses had testified that they had
seen beastly intoxication in various parts of New
England ? Dr. Johnson said, the man who was
continually declaring that all men were rogues,
incontestibly proved that one at least was so.
And I will venture to suggest, even at the hazard
of being called an advocate of slavery, that there
is some negative good at least in the restraints of
slavery. Abolitionists know very well what num-
bers of free blacks at the North are miserable
drunkards. There are very few such among
slaves, chiefly because they are slaves. But mul-
titudes of free blacks in the slave states are like
those just mentioned at the North, a burden to
themselves and a nuisance to society.
In conclusion, I will venture to propose to aboli-
tionists, how they may effect abolition. Slavery
is at best an untenable position if rightly ap-
18*
210
CONCLUSION.
proached. But the abolitionists have hitherto at-
tacked it in their own strength — and have failed.
They are at present " a house divided "against
itself." They have in several instances urged on
their followers to the polls, — and have failed.
They have endeavoured to unite the people of the
free states in their plans and measures — and have
failed. Let them undertake to conquer slavery,
as the apostles undertook to conquer the world, —
and they will succeed. Had the disciples remained
in Judea, lecturing the Jews upon the abominations
and cruelties of heathen idolatry, how soon would
such measures have converted Greece, and Rome,
and Scythia ? But they took their lives in their
hands, and went forth to preach to the idolater.
I can assure the abolitionists, there are large
" fields, white, and ready for the harvest," at the
South. In many of these fields, the masters ac-
knowledge the evil of slavery, and are anxiously
looking for relief. They now consider abolitionists
— and with too much reason — as incendiaries and
fanatics. But under the influence of that spirit
and power which accompanied the apostles, the
chains would imperceptibly loosen and fall from
the slave. The master cannot withstand such a
spirit. Go entirely defenceless, trusting in the arm
of the Almighty. " He that takes the sword shall fall
by the sword." Put the slaveholder upon his con-
science. Hitherto you have put him entirely upon
his legal rights, and there he is strong. Have you
CONCLUSION.
211
not men for this service ? Men with the New
Testament in their hands, and its spirit in their
hearts 1 No other spirit can subvert slavery, so
as to bring good out of the evil. Slavery cannot
be forced down, without deeply injuring both
master and slave. Even should the measures of
abolitionists succeed, and the servants remain on
the soil, they will be but servants still, and will
need the goodwill and friendship of their employers.
If they should be induced to go to Africa, the as-
sistance and counsel of their masters will be a
source of gratification and prosperity.
It becomes the intelligence, the justice, and the
Christianity of the North to send men, in whom the
public can confide, to the South, to bring back an
accurate report of what slavery is practically,
before judgment is made up respecting it. Thus
far the statements on the subject have been of an
ex parte character. I do not believe the people of
the South would object to have slavery examined
by men of principle and intelligence. Openness of
conduct is a strong trait in their character. They
would submit to it with as good a grace at least
as the people of the North would to an examina-
tion of their civil and domestic customs and usages.
Although the fact may be of no interest to the
public, the writer claims a pride of country as an
213
CONCLUSION.
American, not exceeded by that of any of his
cotemporaries. And his pride is, not to be a north-
ern or a southern man, but an American. His
vision is not confined to a state or section, but
embraces the country — the whole country. When
the bond of union is loosened, and falls to pieces,
the charm of American citizenship will be broken.
As the first independent nation on this side the
Atlantic, we have preserved the continental title,
and if true to ourselves we shall sustain a reputa-
tion worthy of the name. Unless we cherish a
national, an American feeling, wre shall lose or
become unworthy the great name we have assumed,
and which is recognized throughout the world.
As soon as sectional or selfish interests shall have
triumphed, and rent the Union in pieces, petty ap-
pellations will be attached to petty sovereignties.
There will be none wrorthy the names of Ameri-
cans ; and a New Yorker, or a Carolinean, will
take rank with a Brazilian, or a Guatimalean.
Every American should cherish this national feel-
ing wTith the spirit of a man who stands as a con-
necting link in a line of illustrious men, whose
worth and reputation he is to transmit to posterity.
With these views, and apprehending a fatal
issue to the Union from this cause, were my voice
of sufficient influence to be heard. I would summon
an assembly of the free states, to discover, as accu-
rately as possible, the state of public sentiment, and
to offer to the South some plan for the extinction
CONCLUSION.
213
of slavery, in the spirit of sympathy and generosity,
and propose to co-operate in the work. Could 1,
on the other hand, gain the ear of the South, I
would call on her citizens for an explicit avowal
of their viewTs of slavery, soliciting them to state
the terms on which they would accede to the
wishes of the North, and the sacrifices they would
make for national union. Should these efforts fail
to settle the controversy, I would exhort each to
resist to the utmost every attempt to stir up sec-
tional strife, — to bear and forbear with all long
suffering, rather than consent to a civil convulsion,
leaving to the judgment of a wiser generation, and
the guidance of Divine Providence, the future
settlement of the question.
With respect to the manner of this performance,
the writer would bespeak the indulgence of criti-
cal readers. It wTas written during such brief and
irregular intervals, as could be spared from a very
laborious and harassing employment — without
opportunity to study connection of parts, or make
it critically conformable to the rules of rhetoric
and grammar. Without entering into any laboured
argument, the writer has aimed chiefly to throw
together statements, and facts, and opinions on the
principal subjects of controversy, in a manner
intelligible to the great body of the community.
Perhaps he has offered nothing new. If so, he can
only plead the scarcely pardonable excuse of good
intentions, in adding to the great mass of useless
214
CONCLUSION".
publications. If he has merely suggested some
ideas worthy of being transplanted from a barren
into a better soil, where they may flourish, and
bring forth good fruit, his labour will not be alto-
gether in vain.
District of Columbia, June, 1839.
THE END.
mi
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