The native American., 1839-01-12
From the African Repository.
WASHINGTON AND THE ABoLITIoNIsTs

From the african Repository.
The regular readers Of this Journal may recoIec an
article copied into it from the Vermont Chronicle Of May
"a, lS33,t in which The character of Washington
portrayed according to the po!rmical principles Of the
Aboiiiionists The portrait offended the sentiment Of
afrctiobae veneraton with which every true american
regards the memory OF that best and greatest Of men, that
tie prominent Abolition editors and agents eEdeavonred 10
divert The storm Of public indignation from their own
heads 10 The head Of Mr. Tracy che author OF The article
The device for this purpose was notable enough They
denied that they had everappicd to Washington by
the opprobons eiets contained in the article, aud wish
cd the public to infer thai Mr.. Tracy had committed for
ger, in quot z such cpthes from their writings. The
answer was obvious. MIR. Tracy had never pretended
to make such quotations. He referred to passages in
Abolition writings, dfnng or describing the character
OF STAKEHOLDER, in the most intense terms OF reproa'h
and showed that, as Washington lived and died slave
holder he came, by palrahe sequu, within The aeope
of the dsnuncalion. Such too TO have been the
impression on the public mind Attempts have been
casonally but unsuccesslny, made TO weaken this i'm
preston In arecent controversy between the editor OF
the Emancpator and the editor Of the New York Obser
the latter places the subject in point OF view winch
must, think, seem conclusive to every candid mind
Shall acknowledge he inquiries, that anti.s slavery
leaders do not maintain that the saveho!der-ha every
savehotter-s thief, kidnapper, and the hke;-tha
they do lot protest against making any exception; that
they do not urge the application of their doctrine to every
Shareholder who comes among u.s. Insisting on their eX
cluson ion pnpits and communion tables and dehonc
ing every who is permitted 10 preach, "Souhern
man thief in Northern pulp? All their writings, all
their speeches. their whole hstoywcnld give us the le
i" Must say that Washington was not slavehoder
His last will aud testament" in which he bequeats
freedom 10 his slaves alter The death Of his wife, would
convict us of alsehood.
.Shall we say that what is asserted Of every man of
certain class, without exception is not said of each ind
vidua Of that cass Will that do? II we say that all Anti
Slavery editors ars that every Of them is liar
that there cannot be exception 10 this rule; that he
who makes exception, s apoIogist for lying do we
not thereby say plainly as it we called him by name
that Joshua Leav is liar? If such assertion should
bring into trouble, and should endcavor to escape
from it by saying that never had brought that charge
against Joshua Leavitt by should escape the
pn,aton ofquibbing If we should say for the purpos"
of exciting people to abolish presbytAansm in this city,
that every Presbyterian minister in New York is hypo
crite ard should urge every TO treat every of
them with whoa. he in contact as hypocrite
should we not be guilty ofdcscribing Dr. Spring and Dr.
congregations should call us to account for abnsins their
ministers could escape by saying that we had not cali
ed their pastors hypocrtes by name? man must be in
distress for an evasion, who thinks such oieabe
This is point of small practical importance, aside
from its bearing the present case, or we would not
spend so many words upon it, we maintain, It IS not
rght-it is not telling the tr'th-t to bring an unqualified
accusation against whole class of mep,insising that
it be received true OF them all without excepton-
which is not true of every individual OF that class b name
and which is not allowable for any one 10 apply to every
individual Of that class by The accusation lures
each individual just much as if he were named. If
LED to regard me as criminal What is to me
by name? Or what 10 me that others included in
the same description? And if the charge is not true OF
Inc by name the author is not giltless of ander because
he contveA to fasten the charge upon Inc without using
nv name; nor is he innocent, because, at the moment
he was only thinking Of others, whom the descp
ton includes. These remarks apply to many Of the re-
form excitements that have had; and observance Of
inst principles would prevent much OF the party aspery
with which the churches are no" distracted Condemn.
ing men by classes irrespective Of their individual charac
tcrs may be very convenient, labor saving process; bI
il is full OF injustice and alsehood Those who obsti
nately use it, must take the consequences"
When the abolition leaders made the awkward attempts
to which have referred, 10 show that their denunca
lions Of shareholders in were naPpicabe to the Fa
ther OF his country they were probably unacqaainted
with letter from him to Robert Norris written shortly
after the American Revolution, and before the unlo-
OF slaves bad acquired the guaranty Of their
right Of property from the present Constitution OF the
United States. In that letter. practices similar to those
Of modern bolonis's are rebuked in the tone of dig
nifty and milsness which characterized the writer.
knowledge Of on their part would probably have prompt
ed All attack his memory, just severe as the Amer
people could be expected 70 oef though not quite
atroclous that made by Daniel O'ConneiI, who
poets public opinion in this country little he ames
the character of Washington. An extract Of the letter
just referred TO, appeared in former number OF this
work. vol. I2, p 49, We now repubish the whole Of it,
ron the 9th volume Of Mr. Sparkss invaluable edition Of
the writings of Washington:
MOUNT VERNON, 12 ArRIL, 1855.
Dear Sir, | give you the trouble Of this letter
at the instance siof Mr.. Dalby of Alexandria, who
is called to Philadelphia TO attend what he con-
ceives to be vexatious lawsuit respecting slave
of his, whom society of Quakers in the city,
formed for such purposes, have attempted to lbe-
rate. The merits of this case will no doubt ap-
pear upon trial. From Mr.. Dabys statement OF
the matter, it should seem that this society is no,
only acting repugnanlly to justice, far as its
conduct concerns strangers, but in my opinion i'm
politely with respect to the State, the city in
particular, without being able, except by acts o
tyranny and oppression, to accomplish its own
ends. He says the conduct Of this society is moi
sanctioned by law. Had the case been otherwise
whatever my opinion of the law might have
been, my respect for the policy of the State would
on this occasion have appeared in my silence; be
cause against the penalties of promulgated laws
one may guard, but there is no avoiding the snares
of individuals, or of private societies. If the
pratice of this society, of which Mr.. Dalby speaks
is not discountenanccd, none of those, whose
misfortune it is to have slaves as attendants, vii
visit the city if they possibly avoid it; because
by so doing they hazard their property, or they
must be at the expense (and this will not Away
succeed) of providing servants of another descrip
ton.