Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1824-04-20
To the Editor ofthe Illinois Gazette.


To The Editor Of the Illinois Gazette.
SIR-There are some persons who,
alter all the pains tina, have been taken
20 open their eyes, are still hankerlng for
slavery. Men under the dominion OF
passion cannot heark en- to reason Pas
sion is both deaf and blind; aud a0arice
is an oyerbe aring passion They aeknow-
etge it 10 be qvroag they are convinced
that, in the end, ii would be imtohtic
but, urged by this demon, on they rush
| can compare them 10 nothing but the
herd of swine we read of in the Tesla
menl, which, being possessed by devil,
ran furioUsly down steep place in'o
the sea"--and sea OF troubles il would
be a seasoI troubles from which they
would never be extricated.
Suppose twenty Thousand negroes to
be in The sfale; (no great number, only
about Two TO iamiiy)-Then begins a
war to which there will be neither truce
nor treaty. A war OF oppression on the
one hand, and Of revenge on the other;
rendering both parties wretched during
its continuance; and to be ended sooner
or later in the destruction Of one of them.
Look at old Virginia, which, in IVA,
was by far the most powerful state in he
Union, containing SIX hundred and h'y
Thousand inhabitants, more by fifty thou
sand than New York and Pennsylvanis
together, Including Vermont, and, be-
lieve, Delaware look at her condition
during the last war with Great b itain {:
she could not contribute her quota Of MI
lltia TO The general defence through fear
other slQ7,c f0huiation /!
Look at the Caroiinas and Georgia !;
consider their conslsnt alarms; the sys-
TEN of nightly paroles, which, horrible
as it iro!y is, is but the beginning OF sor-
rows--s0methlng by way OF Prevention.
A yet, the power and the sAoqu If fight
ing is a on one side ; aud SO seems to bt
the sill ing. The whic man holds the
rifle and brandishxs the cow-skin, whist
the wretched victims. like +" the souls
under the altar" are CT, in 5--" How long,
. Lord, holy and rue. dos, thou, not
Judge and avenge our blood ("
But, is the Suffering all on one side I!
How fares ii with the trembling .femaleS,
when their husbands and their fathers
are oul, By night, on this hateful but ne
, cessary duty? De you think they elect i?
and if they do what are their dreams -
When they have gathered up every too!
which might be converted into weapon
Of destruction, and barricadoed their
houses--and laid them III their beds with
| heir litlle ones around them--how fare
| they? The midnight torch and the club,
and the spirit OF vengeance, are abroad
and awakc--and do you think they re-
pose in tranquility?
| Such, my fellow citizens, advocates OF
| this acour,ed system, is The inheritance
you would provide for your posleri!y .
pray you TO count the cost before yon
| make the purchase. VIVA, have faint
| ly described 10 you is a pery small hart
Of the misery you would bring on your
selves and your children: These are
pains Of hrecaution merely, all this and
more must be endured, to hut of the
evil day, which, sooner or later, will
most surely arrive.
Besides this, on which would depend
your very existence, there would be, on
very plantation, perpetual conflict be-
tween The eagerncss OF the master and
the apathy of the slave: the simplest
business nus, be carried on by violence
and terror. The white men, and even
the white women (odious 10 contem-
plate , must be ready TO apply the lash.
And there would be ain incessant war
of hiunder in which the whites would
have to act on the defensive. Every
thing that can be secured must be under
lock. Your clothing and provisions, and
choice fruits and poultry you might
watch them, but il would be in vain.
One thief in nelghborhood is sutii-
lent nuisance but then there would be
, hundred.
Ii mischief to your property from theft
would be increased an hundred fold, SO
would danger from fire: not through
negligence only, but through design
What precautions are found necessary
in the slave states against this devouring
calamity Yet fires are continually oc-
curing. If you ask how they happen
ed, the invariahle answer is, /" from the
carelessness or the malice o! the ne
groes." .(
Then, too, would arise an overwhelm-
ing food Of gross immortality, carrying
all decency before it.--Bul l restrain my
pen: The catalogue of caiamites would
be endless: and, could all The aavaa-