Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-03-26

and rendering its eradication, in any other mode
tbun that Of the sword, utterly and forever
hopeless.
We're this question of emancipation to be sec
tonally considered in reference to its present
practicability in the West no one could doubt
for moment but that it is easily and perfectly
practicable thcrc-that it would encounter lit
tic or no resistance from public sentiment
and would result in considerable shock TO the
productive industry of the country.
But, sir, wc are told by the gentleman from
Brunswick (Mr ShciD that if the extension of sla-
very in the West is so intoerablc to us, that we
cannot any longer allow it, that IN that case no.
thing can be easier than TO prevent n-that all we
have to do is merely not to buy and the object is
Mt once accomplishcd--thc evil at once arrested.
That this cxpcdient may lack nothing of entire and
perfect efficiency he undertakes to guarantee, on be-
half of the Eastern owners, that net head shall
show itself beyond the mountains un.5ss it has been
bought and bought ut Il sound price. This will
certainly do as far as 1t goes but 1t scarcely goes
the length of single step. What let mo ask that
gentleman would Inc do with the slaves who ire
now therc-amountlng TO near sixty thousand, and
being about double the number possessed in any
OF the Northern or Middle States at the of their
cmancipating laws-what would he do with them
and their increased Would their growth DO limited
by refusal 20 purchase others? 1t may be so, but
II VIII certainly require the gentlemans ingenuity
to explain the proofs by which it is DONE Besides
this, does 1T not occur to that gentleman that his
recipe for the cessation of Western slavery,-and
winch, by the way, is compounded of quite much
blc-does it not occur to him that it operates but
partially? that whilst it prohibits Western man
from importing negro to his own domain it per-
mits an Eastern one to cover it with as many
as he p'cascs! Arc not your Western la nds to be-
come the residence of your Eastern citizens, and
when do they move without a retnue of slaves?
This is proven by the Experience of every year and
every future year will multiply the proofs it will
multiply the causes for this kind of emigration.
when the laws of the Western States shall exclude
the slave and the alternative to lowland Virgini-
an, whose wants have outnumbcrcd his supplies,
Ire the a tcrnatve of an unhealthy residence i'm the
South or of healthy in the rich Mountain
districts of your State, then will Western Vr-
gina receive from you her part of those contribu-
lions which you are annually making to the wealth
and power of other communities. This is now the
case TO much extent in some of the counties at
the Western foot of the Blue Ridge, the county of
Botetourt for example, where there is a large
and augmenting slave holding interest, principal
ly IN the hands of gentlemen from Eastern Virgi-
MIA. Here then is an inlet to the slave which
is unprovdcd for by the Brunswick prescription.
put there is yet another, sir, which / hope
inc gentleman in the hey day and generosity of
ms youth will not have the heart to forbid
Would the gentleman ettcr the loves of the country?
would he deny us the honor of family alliance?
surely not They not common as to threat
en- the loss of caste to either side of the Mountain
yet they will sometimes rccur. II is true that the
West is occasionally considered terra incognta
OF refinement and its young men apt to be
tea as contraband in treaties of marriage. But it
49," ii't Ill no tncy VIII sometimes succeed. Ia
ther and mother may snecr may scold but love
VIII do what 1t lists and despite of their frostiness
despite OF their lowering, the daughter, in the in
nocence OF her hopes will sometmes----she cannot
help it-look with eye of more favor on the
Buckskin of the Mountain than on the Crab of the
Lowlands. But the ''beauty and the booty" are won
together: the lover gets the bridge, and the West
gets the slave.
turning, sir, to the graver aspect of our subject
from which this slight departure is relief, allow me
TO say, that IN whatever degree the problem of
emancipation in Eastern Virginia has assumed an
appalling character and now presses upon the mind
with painful und distressing sense of it's almost
mcalcuiable magnitude and difficulty, in that very
dcgrce does the reason exist why you should arrest
the progress of slavery now-why you should not
suffer 1t to go forward. Sir you have yet one safe and
rallymg point in the West where you may operate
Tor the extinction of this If that too be oc-
cuplcd by the slave the plains of the East are
occupied, all hope but the hope of the strongest is
gone and you must look for your destiny in the is
sues OF mutual and horrible conclusion. Let that
dry spot be preserved-let it not be covered by this
spreading mundation and relief is yet practicable
Ia door OF escape is yet open, but if that last
place OF refuge be rciinquishcd, you may save
yourselves but you will rear your posterty to the
business OF the dagger and the torch.
As a prginian then less than as 4 Western
man would impore this Assembly to begin the
work OF safety and protection dcfinitive
and positive law is not sought for-only let the
object be resolved upon ---only let the ''cxpedency
of it be established by your decision and you will,
for the present, have made progress enough----you
Will have laid the corner stone which the better
fortunes of your country may be built