Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1844-09-18

the same Negro as q free man in The Brit
ish West 4 dies The native condition Of
the Negro in Africa is, for The most part,
deplurahle: the savage chiefs exercise des
potic will over life aud limb; even the
sanclity OF. Exeter, Halls :. model farm
up ihe Niger could not repel the tain Of
slavery which pervades that whole conti-
uent, and which las existed East and
West, North and South, from The earliest
dawn of hislory-from The time of the Pha-
raohs, ifnol from the Deluge. Many Of
the tribes are in The mos, beslial stale:
when captured by our cruisers. they are
found 10 behave like mere brnles. For
them. even the slave labor of civilized
countries is an elevation. In the Brazils,
the slave associates with his masters fam
lily, and is at least as well off and as well
conducted as an Arab horse. We judge
of slavery in The United States by our
standards Of righ. and sentiment; but turn
one ofihese brutes into a Virginian Negro.
and he would rise many degrees in The
scale Of humanity. In The English West
Irdies, the Negro atlains 10 he same COM
Iiorls, :mmunilies, and dignity. as any Brit
ish subject. Is it NOT clear that The mere
fact OF removal from Africa to the British
West Indies must be for the Negro tribes
the best possible change? Whal pro.
teciion, Go they nerd more Than British
emigrants crossing the ncean ! Secure
their personal rights within British juris
diclion, open every portal 10 that mfgic
bound render their migration safe, and you
have done The very best you can Tor them.
Even the human brutes. that we have seen
described, allheir transfer from the slave
ships. in terms which, though Of u'im
peaciIabie ruth, may not appear IN our
pages, become passing good citizens
They are highly;imiiaiive. with u strong
social turns! Their mere removal from
ualive oppression. and from debasing ex
ample. acts like regeneration. All this
civilizins influence is obstrucleh by what
ever impedes-and hitherto every act of
the government, from its head in Down
ing street 10 its stail in Sierra Leone, has
impeded-the free passage Of blacks from
Africa to the British West Indies. ,-2z's.
The Anli-SlaVery party in this country
is not in a more favorable position than
those already passed under review. A
parl from the originators Of The movement
-tbe CarksoDs and Wiberforces who
stand distinguished from the mere herd as
much as The grea, men who have founded
philosophical or religious sects do from
mere seciarians-lhis party may be held 10
consist f.the excitabe masses who follow
the bell weihers of the flock, Of the busy
managers ir Exeter Hall, and of those
whose professionalism 10 the blockade
of the African coast vulgarizes but at the
same time keeps alive their hostility to
slavery and slavers. With the exception
of the last mentioned no, very numerous
section, the anti slavery body have been
brought to dead lock. They have abol.
shed personal slavery within The British
domuioEs; they have PM an end TO the
avowed participation Of British subjects in
the slave-t!ade; they have involved the
country in treaties for the suppression Of
that traffic, which keeps il canluually how
erins on the verge OF wars: bur they have
neither diminished the anonnl of slavery
in the world nor materially crippled lLe
African slave trade. They stand there n,
their wits end, unable to devise any means
Of advancing their object, and. in igno
rance or nut Of spleen. obstructiug all
means proposed byorher persons.
Last comes our government; in plight
quite as unsatisfactory as thai Of any of
the others. and on the whole more shame.
ful. In every Stage, The part which the
British government has takon in the ron
troversies relating 10 slavery and The Irop-
ical colonies has been undignifed at The
best. Government has been simply pas
sive il has neither ori ginated anything
nor engrafed the Suggestions il received
from without upon a stalesmanlike system
Of its own. Wings and tories. when in Of.
fee, have on these questions justified the
uninIe enlional sarcasm of MIR. Zachary Ma.
cauey, when, wiring to noble friend O.
bout Sierra Leone, he affirmed that the
people in The Colonial Office would do a
nylhins for anybody who saved them the
trouble of thinking. Government has new
cr taken QUO step with regard to the sugar
colonies unless from the belief that the
pressure brought to bear upon it was ire
sis,ih!e, aud then in blind obedience to
The impulse. Its first phasis was that of
yielding; and consequently, lis second was
that of bluDdering. Instead of taking a
comprehensive view of The wants and
wishes of the general public, the planters,
the negroes. and the anil slavers, and o.
originating measures which might as far az
possible harmonize Them. it has merely
given way TO The urgency Of the most ac.
tive. and has acled upon their narrow
views without having the excuse that il
believed in them. And now that necessi-
ty is making other parties clamorous, it
passes from laundering to sI,ufling. 1t
processes to do something for all parties,
and does nothing satisfactory Tor any. |,
caJoles the sugar consumer, by promising
10 admit larger supplies of sugar; it has
tens 10 s0othe the apprehensions offhe an