Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1832-01-21

Va. are as happy a laboring class as exists upon the habitable
In health, but reasonable labour Is required Of them
sickness, they are nursed and attended TO. In times of
plenty, they live in waste-in times OF scarcity, they do
not want-they are content to-day, and have no care or
anxiety for to- morrow. Cruel treatment Of them is dis
countenanced by society, and until of late, their privileges
were daily extending. Among what labouring class will
you find more happiness and less misery? Not among the
sers aud labouring poor of Europe! No, Sir.-Nor among
the servants TO the North of us.
Our slave population is not only a happy one, but it is a
contented, peaceful and harmless one. For the last sixty
years, while riots, seditisns, rebelions, revolutions, blood
shed, and commissions, have marked the histories of the
fairest nations upon earth-Whilc RIGHTEOUSNESS and anar-
chy, aud tyranny and despotsm have held their alternate
sway-governnents been crumblcd into atoms, and en-
pires torn from their deep oundationS--what has been the
history of the internal condition OF the State in which we
i've! Sir, during all this time, we have had one instrTec-
ton. Aud TO a faithful history of that, | beg to cali the
attention of this House for a moment. 1 do not wish 10
paIliate the horrors OF that occurrences; but l wish to show
TO this House and this people, that none of its char
dcteristics are of such a cast, as 10 destroy a sense of Sc
curity, or to attach suspicion TO the slave population
generally. What is its history, Sir? An Ignorant. reli-
succeeded in involving four or FIVE others, of his immediate
neighborho0d, in his designs: They commence the mas
sacre-thcy traverse a region OF country containing hun
dreds of slaves; but neither threats, promises, nor in
toxication, could secure more than from forty to fifty
adherents-they remain embodied something more than
twenty -four hours-then dispense without being forced
are taken without resistance-and are at last hung on the
evidence OF persons of their own class and colour. Is
there any thing in this history, Mr.. Speaker, to justify
nv pChOi tldt III uOlc Glass OIL our pOpulauOn Is
corrupt, treacherous and dangerous Sir, in opposition to
this solitary occurrence of INSTRUMENTATION l could present
to you innumerable instances of the most stcadfast fidelity
and devoted loyalty-but ii is unnecessary: Suffice il TO
say, that / believe it a happy, and, when well regulated. a
harmless population.-A chivalrous and high minded Vir-
ginian, while standing in London, was reproachcd by dis
clple oil Wiberforce, with the existence and evils of slave.
ry in Virginia. He Indignantly replied, that he believed,
more misery, vice and corruption, existed within ten miles
OF the spot on which he stood, than prevailed i'm the entire
slave population of Virginia.
| come now, Sir, with eyes OF affection, to contemplate
good old Eastern Virginia-that "barren,'' "cxhausted,"
Impoverished 'ruined and desolatc land'-over which
we nave heard so many ournful dirges and weeping
Jeremiads. The poetic young Traveller, gazes on our Sc.
cond growth OF pines in mournful sorrow, and imagine,
ne hears IN the wind which signs through their boughs
the complaining spirit OF his country's decay. He look.
upon the gunies OF our hill sides, amazed and aghast, and
thinks he beholds in them, the track of the ploughshare Of
desolation. The annual traveller, carefully gathers To-.
gether all the earnings of the year, and goes north to spend
it-Ohereby e%nriching this poor old State, Mr.. Speaker)-
he walks around the environs of their splendid cities-fll.
into raptures at the beauty of their gardens, and return,
TO pity Virginia, and to exclaim, call is insipid-all is bar
Mr.. Speaker, gentlemen who draw these gloomy pic.
lures of Eastern wealth and agriculture, arc-mv life I'm.
on it!-better poets than planters. Gentlemen who under.
take to compare objects, should always examine both-and
examine them in all their aspects. Many brilliant con.
trasts have been drawn in the course Of this debate. be.
tween Northern and Southern apricuIture-and all in &,
vor OF the former: And yet | doubt whether gentlemen
possess the necessary information TO justly a decision
We cannot judge the general character Of cultivation i'm
country, by that which surrounds its cities, or borders il,
navigable streams. We must visit the interior-and if gen.
tlemen will do this, they will find to their astonishment
mat virginia does not fear comparison as much as they had
supposed. They will find, Sir, that excepting Pennsvl.
vania, she might compare without disparagement, with
any other State in the Union. The lands on the river, The
sound oil whose waters we now hear, are as well cult.
waited, and many of them as highly improved, as any
within this Union. tits true, Sir, our poor lands are moi
well culivaied-nor are they in any other country under
Heaven, where good lands can be acquired. [ have been
amused, when ! heard gentlemen talk of improving land.
rendered sterile and unproductive by the hand OF God
wmle others, nch, abundant and productive, lay on every
side.
But, ! invite gentlemen who think we cultivate eur
lands so ~misersbly, and that our resources are drying up
10 look 10 the quantity and value of our products-the
amount OF our e~Xports-our consumption-and last, though
not least, our extravaganza. Sir, national vanity is as ex-
cusable as personal vanity is despicable. i possess the
former, l confess; and | cannot-I will not, Join i'm decry-
ing and depreciatng all that is domestic-all that is .Vir.
ghnian. But, this is becoming a common theme of clio.
quence on this fioor; it's enlisted in favor Of every scheme
ana Proposihons submitted 10 our consideration-and this dc.
cline and deterioration OF Virginia, is attributed to anv and
every cause which may suit the speakers views or fancy
Is the subject of emancipation raised: Ill our ruin is the
result oil slavery. Is the subject of Internal Improve.
ment on the tapis! all our interiority and inactivity are al
tHbutable TO bad roads and unnavigable streams. Is tho
subject Of Education in debate! all our decline is attribu.
table to Ignorance and want Of Schools, Academies an,
colleges. When are gentlemen right, and when are the,
wrong'-or, are they not wrong altogether?
Although this attempt TO prove Virginia exhausted ant
impoverished, suits neither my taste nor opinions.
might perhaps have been content, had gentlemen pauscC
here. Poverty, though a heavy misfortune, is no crime
But the gentleman from Buckingham, in his ardent yea
10 attribute the "whole sum Of human ills to this self
same cause OF slavery, has informed us, that our infeiH.
gence, ouT morality, oar character, our reputation 70,
ch'caiTy and honor are impaired and declining. Sir, tbi,
IS most unwcicome intelligence TO met is deeply wound.
ing TO my national pride, and blights the most glorious and
ennobling feelings which ever fill my mind, or swell nv
heart. indulge a faint hope that the gentleman is mis-
taken; his poetic mind, on the present occasion, is timed
you know, Mr.. Speaker, with a gloomy cast.-But, then
ms station and opportunities enable him to know. Aud sure.
ly, on a point like this, he would not speak unadvisedlv
II Is true that but a very little time back, one of the mos
chiyalrous sons OF the most chivaIrous people on earth
SAID, that Virginia, like the mother of the Gracchi, mioht
point to her sons and exclaim, hare med OTuanenfa.' II
Is true, that ON another occasion, it has been said of her
That Though her lands were poor, her men were brave
and her daughters virtuous." But these must have been
the p%rejudices OF an indulgent Partially they could moi
have been faithful delineations ofour character: for, they arc
disclaimed in the Halls of Legislation. The gentleman
however, would have afforded a melancholy qualification
to this House, If he had shewn ho,c, and in ,chat rcspect.
we arc losing those great and invaluable attributes of our
national character. If he only means, when he speaks Of
intelligence, that our people are not so generally educated
as others, l have only TO reply, that others may have ad.
vanced more rapidly than ourselves, but that we certainly
have not declined; and that our want of education is moi
because we have slaves to make our bread, and provide
Tor us our wants. | have, moreover, TO advise tbe int,ui.
gent gentleman, that when he shall have had more ape
and experience, he will discover that the great body of hi.
people, so lar as an intimate knowledge of their rights
both private and public, evidences intelligence. is an in.
telIngUt DeODip. XpQ Sir. opI 100, - = -. N