Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1845-09-24
GOVERNOR HAMMOND'S LETTERS
ON SLAVERY.

The length of Gov. Hammond's letters
on Slavery has reverted us from publish.
ing them entire, and we had intended to
have made a synopsis OF them for our
readers; we have, however, been saved
that labor by The editor of the New York
Courier and Enquirer, TO whose paper we
are indebted tor the following abridgment:
Gov. HAMMOND, of South Carolina, has
addressed TO Thomas Clarkson, the well
known English AboIitionist, very long
and able letter on the subject Of Slavery
10 the Southern States. Ii is exceedingly
well written, is far less violent and severe
than most of the Abolition Trades which
it is meant to rebuke, and though many Of
It's positions will of course be very widely
disputed, it presents facts and considera-
tons well worthy of general attention.
Leaving all controversy as to slavery in
the abstract, as likely to be vague and ut
terly useless, Gov. Hammond examines ii
as it is, commencing his remarks by some
allusion to the well known labors of Mr.
Clarkson towards the suppression of the
trade, and avowing his belief that the at
tempts to prevent it by force have had no
good result. In 1887, he saws, when the
agitation was begun, 40, 900 Africans were
transported annually to America and the
West Indies; and the mortality of the
"middle passage" is acknowledged not to
have exceeded nine per cent. Notwith-
standing all the steps that have been taken
to suppress il, by armed force-aut vtlr1r-
wise, il was conceded by Mr.. Buxton in
1910, that the number Of Africans annu-
ally transported beyond the sea, amounts
to 100000, and that, in consequence OF
the greater severity made necessary by
these laws, the mortality Of the middle
passage has increased 10 25 or 30 per
cent And of the 10000 slaves who
have been captured by British cruisers, il
is stated by Judge Jay that 100000 have
persisted between their capture and theiI
Liberation. Thus 1T is shown, urges the
Governor, that all the lavish expenditure
of labor and money to which the severa
nations of the world have resorted to sup
press this trade, have only increased the
traffic threelold, and caused more than
threefold increase of lis horrors. Time
having thus shown that the trade canno
be suppressed by force, Gov. HammonC
urges that it would be far less cruel to free
it from all restrictions, and leave 1t To the
mitigation and decay which time and com
petition would surely bring about. If, saw
he
" kidnapping, both secretly and by wal
made for the purpose, could be by an,
means prevented in Africa. the next great
est blessing you could bestow upon tina
country would be to transport lis actua
slaves in comfortable vessels across tn
Atlantic. Though they might be perpetr
al b0ndsmen, still, they would emerge fror
darkness into light-irom barbarIsm |
ciWlization-from idolatry to ChrislIanit
lin short, from death to life."
The Governor next adverts to SLAYER
itself, against which, he SAYS a crusad
is directed as enthusiastic and ferociou:
and destined to be about as successful, a
that of Peter the Hermit. That right
may he established by prescriptive uses
however lorturous they may have been
their origin, he says no sane man will dc
ny. No Englishman. would yield his rigt
TO his land because it came TO him from
= Saxon or a Norman conqueror, no woul
any New England Abolitionist surrende
his farm TO the descendants of the Ii
dams from whom it was wresed. Coy
II. then discusses the subject under tne 70
lowing heads:
l. lie first seeks to show that SLAYER
has been expressly sanctioned by the wri
ten Revelation of God, in passages who
he quotes, and which, he insists, are emf
tied to more respect than that transcender
tai religion which seems coming in
vogue" ga religion too pure and elevated f
the Bible, which seems 10 erect am !
men higher standard of morals than II
Almighty has revealed or our Sayio,
>, preached, and which is probably dstin,
- to 90 moro to impede the extension
Gods kingdom on earth than all the in
w. deIs who have ever lived"
2. He next examines the influence