Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1833-03-12

Throughout the whole of Africa, tho same fact Is served.
DIR. Lsidley assured Park. " that during the period Of scar
city in the countries Of the Gambia, many ireemen came
and begged with great esrnestness. to he put upon his
slave chain, TO save them from %perishing. "-(Pamph. p.
25)
The Professor examines the famous doctrine of Chief
Justice Blackstone, that every contract implies a guild pro
quo, and as liberty can have no equivalent it cannot con-
sequently be sold. He shews, that so far from liberty, in
densely populated countries, having no equivalent during
scarciies and amines. directly the contrary happens-the
price paid, the quid pro quo, is generally more than the
Suppose (ssys Mr.. Devil we reverse the visions Of
the Kentucky Senator" and imagine that Ireland could
DC severed during those periods OF distress. from the Bri-
fannie isle, and could float like the tabled Delos. across the
ocean,. and be placed by our side, and our laws should in
humanity forbid a single son Of Erin from entering our ter
ritory, unless as a slave, TO be treated exactly like the
African. Is there any man acquainted with the state Of
the Irish in years OF scarcity, who would doubt for a mo-
ment but that thousands, much as this oppressed people
are in love with liberty, would enter upon this hard con-
dition, if they could find purchasers! Indeed the melan-
cboly fact has too often occurred in Ireland, Of individuals
committing crimes merely for the purpose Of being thrown
into the Houses OF Correction, where they could obtain
bread and ,cdter.' (Pamph. PIP. "a and 81
4h. Crime.-"A All governments, Gays Professor d.
even those Of the States OF our contederacy. have ever
been considered as perfectly justiiable in enslaving for
crime" Witness our penitentiary convicts-,hose sen.
fenced to the mines in South America and Siberia-and
the galley slaves Of England and France.
Throughout the whole ancient world, insolvency was a
source Of slavery. And in Africa the crimes of murder,
adultery. and ,oitchcraf, are all punished with slavery.
Professor ID. closes his investigation into the origin Of
slavery, by a remark, in which he is clearly supported by
the analysis which he has given us, that the establish
Inent oil slavery In the world. has not been :" an accident,
the mere result Of chance, but was a necessary and ineri.
taofe consequence of the principles of human nature and
the state OF property" page 2S)
Mr.. Dew. after having thus, by an examination into the
Tour princip pal sources of slavery, shewn thatit mustbe inevi-
table. in the progress Of nations from barbarisn to civilization.
proceeds to enquire, whether there be not some useful pur-
pose which IL has subserved in the civilization of mankind!
This he answers in the afirmative;-he says, 1--WE might
have concluded from the fact, that slavery was the neces.
sary result of the laws Of mind and matter, that il marked
some benevolent design, and was intended by our Creator
tor some useful purpose" He then proceeds to mention
the agency OF slavery in civilizing the world: LIST. Ii has
been the only means OF mitigating the horrors of savage
warfare. I'd. Ii has conquered the sloth and listlessness
OF the savage and Injured him to regular industry; and thus
Tue h,inters state Is at once converted into the agricultural.
MIR. ID. has shewn, by facts abundantly furnished by the
history OF the world. that the very first step in civilization
cannot be taken without the agency Of slavery. He
proves, that but one single tribe Of Indians in North
America has made any advances in civilization, and that
one has been mainly indebted to negro slavery Tor the
amelioration OF its condition. He states TO us the appal-
ing TACT, "that on the whole of our territory, east and
west oil the Mississippi, extending over "a degrees Of lai-
tudc and So Of longitude, there are but 3l3, 100 Indians :!
miserable remnant Of the myiads of former DAYS =" and
this result has taken place IN despite Of all our efforts 10
save them. He insists that this will ever be the melancholy
result OF the contact Of chill zdfion with bdrbarism, unless
slavery is allowed. He points TO 5. America, where the
indians were enslaved, and even treated in the most cruel
and unrelenting manner by their Spanish and Portuguese
martyrs; and yet, strange to tell, more than 20 times as
many Indians have been preserved in S. America than
In N. America. Peru alone contains double as many In
dams at this time, as the whole Of the u. States! These
are statistics which are well calculated to make the phi.
ianthropist pause; and ask, il he has not erred in imputing
10 slavery unmixed evil. Professor Dew does not hest,
tate to allow that the determination Of The Indians has
resulted advantageously to the whites; more so than if
they have been saved by means of slavery. and dispersed
among us; but this is one of those advantages which hu-
snanity shoulders to acknowledge.
The third general advantage, pointed out as flowing
from slavery, is the beneficial influence which il exerts on
the condition ofthe fair ser. Here Mr.. ID. seems to be all
Eallantry and compliment. "The bare name of this inte-
resting half OF the human family, (says he is well calcula-
.ed 70 awaken in the breast Of the generous, the feeling of
t0nu(FnaQq and Eintpn5ov n -..
consider her progressing elevation in society as a mark of
advancing civilization, and more particularly of the aug
men'anon OF generous and disinterested virtue.' He
then proceeds TO give us an account of the condition Of
woman IN savage and semi-barbarous nations, whore
slavery does not exist; and he proves that it is miserable in
the eftrcme-that she is stript of all her lust rights and
kind feeling whIsI aSnsutnte The beatiiIudee of snr
existence is withheld from her-that she 8. aonismned
% toll and hardship, and becomes, in the language of the
historian, " a mere beast Of burthen." Mr.. ID. after draw
ing this most appalling picture, shews from history, that
an amelioration in the condition Of woman commences the
moment that slavery is instituted. +" She is then (says he)
surrounded by her domestics, and the abundance of their
labor ligbtens the toll and hardship of the whole family
she ceases to be a mere beast Of buFthen'-becomes the
cheering and aninating centre of the family circle-time
rs afforded for reflection, and the cultivation Of all those
mild and fascinating virtues, which throw a charm and
delight around our homes and fresides, and calm and tran
quilize the hsrshcr temPers and more restless propensities
OF the males"
We most heartily subscribe to the Professors concIud-
Ing reflections on this head. He says, truly, Z" There il,
perhaps no moral power, the magnitude of which swells
pO at pcOOh AC grasp VI CdlCulduOn, as m influence oil
the female character an the virtues and happiness of man.
kind: IL is so searching, so versatile, so muIifarious and
so universal: IL turns on us like the eye of a beautiful por-
trait, wherever we take our position il bears upon us in
such an infinite variety of points, on our instincts, our pas
sions, our vanity, our tastes and our necessities; above all,
on the hrst impressions Of education aud the associations of
iniancy.." All must wish then that woman should be
guided by virtue, intelligence and the purest affection,
which can only be secured by elevatiag, honoring and
towing her, IN whose career We feel so deep an interest"
Opp. 81 and 3S)
MI. Dew, after having finished the more general or phi.
iosoPhicai branch OF his subject, examines into the origin
OF. slavery III ms country, and traces il, of course, 90 The
African Slave Trade. The character OF this trade he in.
vostigates-he shews that the horrors Of the middle pas.
sage, together with the constant plundering and piraticsl
wars which II excitcs in Africa, are more than sufficient
10 overbalance the advantage which has resulted from
more frequently sparing the life OF the prisoner. He adj.
mits, therefore, that slavery in this country took its origin
IN EVIL; Butthat the general prevalence OF slavery through.
out the world-the crnelties and practices OF war-the
spirit and the custom Of the times, all formed so many mi
ngatinR circumstances. He shews that the condition Of
Tue negro has been immensely improved by a Translation
10 our bemisphere-that there is no parallel in history to
the rapid advancement Of our blacks in civilizaiion-and
when colonization schemers talk about rolling back the
tide OF civilization on Africa, they unconsciousIy admit the
TACT. Mr.. Di however, is all alive 10 the horrors of the
middle passage, and TO the evils arising from the vexatious
wars which the slave trade has excited in Africa. and
shews that the blame Of the introduction of slavery into
our country rests not on. our heads. lie proves that the
islands and the colonies, especially Virginia, tried al various
tunes TO put a stop TO this trade, but were constantly pre.
vented by the "inhuman negative Of the British crown.
re quoteslargely too, from Mr. Walsh, now the very KNIGHT
OF federalism, and lately innoculated with the ne w. born zeal
oil emancipation TO shew the perfect innocency of the South
IN IN " hnIp nj lI natno -