Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1848-08-16

calIy, nothing from his own observation
but from infancy 10 age he has been accus
toned 10 hear of ls horrors. The tales o
The nursery first affrighled his infautimagi
nation. and pictures of men languishing ii
chains, or writhing in torture, aud Of 6
tyrant master plying the lash which inflicl:
it. which he finds in his school-hooks, rive
upon his young mind the impression
which they were calculated to make. Car
you wonder thai such nan grows uE
with an innate. irrepressible horror of al
institution which is productive Of so much
misery And when, having attained full
age, he mingles with the elders Of The land
and finds that there are also political con-
siderarions to strengthen his opposition tc
it, that the preponderance Of his party al
home may depend upon the activity o.
that opposition. are you surprised that be
comes here prepared 10 denouuce This in
stilulion with an ardor which is proper.
toned to the value of The stake for which
he plays, and a confidence which is The
exact measure OF his ignorance of its
practical operation and effect?
Another man is born, educated, and
resides in a Stale where slavery exists.
The institution is familiarized 10 him in
The earliest moments of his life. II is sus-
tained by the parents whom he reveres
and loves. la their mild and gentle rule
he sees nothing of the horrors. in the
cheerful and merry countenances of The
slaves he beholds none of The sufferings,
which are elsewhere said to attend it. The
nurse who has watched over his infancy.
on whose bosom he has reposed, whose
breast has been to him fountain Of life,
is slave; his first playmate, the com.
panion of his boyish sports. the Sharer Of
his childish revellings, is a slave In his
earliest wanderings from the maternal
roof, an aged domestic Of the family, his
companion, protector, and guide, to whom
he iuoks with affection and respect, is a
slave. They who have watched over him
in his hour Of sickness, whom he has seen
ministering TO his aged parents with aifec-
tionate assi'luily on their death beds, and
mourning their departure with a sorrow
which woulp not be cpmfor,ed, these, too,
ate slaves. Can we wonder that such a
man. with a consciousness that he is not
himself tyrant, with the conviction thai
his slaves are cheerful aud coniented. sees
ia lbls IRs!ltp4ing
Which of these Two men has formed
The most correct estimate OF lhis instllu-
lion? The one knows nothing Of il, per
sonaIly his judgment has been formed
on the representations of others, whose
meaDs Of information were as perfect as
his own; The other has grown up with it,
Witnessed irs operation and effects, daily
observing Them from infancy TO manhood.
Lei those who hear me judge.
Take another test. The citizen OF a
n-slaveholdiug Stale, who has grown
up with cherished horror of slavery, and
has found. on arriving al manhood, a
superaddcd motive for opposition 10 i: as a
political institution, is tempted by the love
of adventure, or by whatever cause. to
migrate to a slave State. The institution,
10 lis practical operation, is now befora
him, and he has thus an opportunity TO
confirm or correct the opinions he has
formed. What is The result His horror
Of slavery ceases. He sees body of Ia
borers cheerful and contentsd; ha fluids
that The quanlum of labor is less than is
demanded elsewhere he sees them fed.
clothed, and minslered to in sickness and
old age; he associates with their owners,
and amongst them meets men who are
honest aud often distinguished for !heir
piety and for The exercise Of charity in il:
sense. He becomes reccnciled to the 10.
slitutiou, and very soon is himself slave.
holder. A man brought up in slave
Slate sometimes. though the instances are
moro rare, removes to uon slaveholdine
State. He does uol change his opinions
bu, listens with scorn or contempt to
denunciations of an institution which be
feels To be misrepresented only because i
is misunderstood.
The firs, will change his opinion-al
most universally does SO; The SECOND
rarely, if ever. A Senator near pe
speaks of instances Of such change a:
within his knowledge. Ii may he so
vii, not doubt it. But they are sufficient
" rare to form exceptions, which only
prove The rule. The suggestions Of the
Senator has brought to my recollection
Instances, not Of persons born in a slave
holding Sale, but who had removed there
and become slaveholders. who, returning
10 the States from whence they came
underwent second change of opinion
and denounced slavery as mortal sin
NV recollection also furnishes me with the
fact that they had first qualified themselye:
for This second migration by selling thei'
slaves and pocketing the proceeds Of the
sale. Sir, assert fact which every mar
whose opportunities Of observation have
enabled him 10 speak TO it, will affirm
that il is precisely those persons who hav'
removed from free StaIcs and become
Shareholders who are most severe in rhei
exaclons from their slaves. ltis perfectly
natural that it should be so. They know
these people only as lDborers for whom
they have paid price, and demand from
them the labor which they have beer
j accustomed elsewhere to see performed
! They have nol-i, is impossible that the.
should have-towards them The same feel
inss Of Kindness and forbearance as thos,
: WHO have been born and broughtsup in iii.
midst Of Them; who have played will
Q n - Il \.