Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1840-04-16

and thereby retaining place, when op-
posed to the demands ofjustice, could not
be without its weight. The course. ac-
cordingly, taken, was such as might have
been anticipated from these opposing mo-
tives.. To satisfy our urgent claim for
justice; compensation was allowed in two
of the cases, aud to avoid offending pow
erful and jealous party, distinction was
taken between them and the other, the
effects Of which would be 10 close the
door against future demands Of the kind.
| mean not to say, that deliberate and in
territorial injustice was done; but simply,
that these conflicting causes, which it is
obvious, from the circumstances of the
case, must have been in operation, would,
by a natural and an unseen bias, lead 10
that result.
But another question Of far greater mag
nitude, growing out of the foregoing, pre-
sents itself for consideration to what must
that result finally lead, if Great Britain
should persist iu the decision which it has
made I hold it impossible for her. to
maintain the position she has taken. She
must abandon it as untenablc, aud take one
of two other positions: either tha, her inu-
nicipal laws are paramount 10 the law OF
nations, when they come into conflict; or
that slavery-the right of man 10 hold
property in man-is against the law of
nations. :. 1t is only on the one or other Of
these supposilions that the act for abolish
ing slavery can have the force she attri-
butes 10 it. The former she cannot take,
without virtually abOlishins the entire sys-
tenn Of International laws. She could not
think ofassuming that her municipal laws
were paramount, without admitting those
of other States also 10 be so; which would
be to annul the system, and substitute IN
its place universal violence, discord and
conflict. This would force her on the 9th.
er alternative. which, fit were true, would
give her a solid foundation for the rejec-
ton of our claim, OH The incontestable
principle that The laws Of nations would
not enforce that which violates them
selves. Nor are there wanting indica-
tions, in the correspondence, Ito some Of
which have alluded,) that the position
she has taken in reference 10 the Enter
prise, is but preliminary to the adoption of
that alternative. There are, however,
many difficulties 10 be got over, before she
can openly avow it..
1t would require, in the first place, no
small share of effrontery, for n nation
which has been the greatest slave dealer
on earth; a nation, which has dragged a
greater number Of Africans from their ma
live shores to people her possessions, and
to sell to others, and which forced our an.
cestors to purchase slaves from her against
their remonstrance, while Colonies, mot
improbably the ancestors of the owners Of
those slaves to purchase the ancestors of
the slaves, for which she now refuses COM
pepsaiion, )-it would, 1 repeat, require no
small effrontery 10 turn round and declare
that she neither had, nor could have, the
RICH, to the property she sold US, nor could
we, without deep crime, retain possession.
We all know what such conduct would be
called among individuals, without, indeed,
followed By tender back Of the purchase
--,..-.- .:.s.t. - NJ. cnri, sn'nn for dam
ages; aud there rs noagood why II
should'be called by a less harsh epi,het,
when applied 10 the conduct of nations.
But there. is another difficulty. The
avowaI Of the principle would place her
in conflict with all the authorities on the
law of nations, and the custom of all ages,
past and present; and would bring her into
collision with all nations whose institutions
would be outlawed by the avowal, and
what, perhaps, she would most regard, it
would put her in conflict with herself
Yes, she who refuced 10 compensate our
citizens for property unjusly seized and
detained under her authority. on the ground
that she had forbade the recognition Of
slavery in her territory, had then, and has,
at this day, hundreds ofthousauds Of slaves
in the most wretched condition, held by
her subjects in her Eastern possessions;
and worse, by herself. With all her boast,
she i, a slave holder, aud hires out and
receives hire for slaves. ] speak on high
authority.the Asialic Journal for 1888,
printed id her own metropolis.
Here the Secretary read tho following
extracts from pages 22l:
Government o fslaues in Malabar.-We
know that there is not servant Of Gov
ernment, in the south Of India, who is not
intimately acquainted with the alarming
fact, that hundreds Of thousands Of his
fellow.creatures are fettered down for life
10 the degraded destiny of slavery. We
know that these unfortunate beings are
not, as is the case in other countries. ser(s
of the soil, and incapable Of being transfer.
red, at the pleasure Of their owners, from
one estate to another. No, they are daily
sold, like cattle, by one proprietor to anoth-
er;rhe husband is separated from the wife
and the paren. from the child. They are
loaded with every indinity; the utmost
possible quantity oflabor is exacted from
them, and The most meagre fare that hu-
man nature can possible subsist on is do
led out to support them. The slave popu.
Iation is composed Of great variety Of
classes the defendants ofthose who have
been taken prisoners in time Of war,
nerson, who have been kiduapped from