The southern press., 1850-11-05
KspIy OF ElIwood Fisher 10 the Review
OF his Lecture ON the North and the
south by "Justice.''

KtpIy OF EliwOOd Fisher TO the Review
OF his Lecture ON the North and the
south by s'Justice.o
TO The Editors Of tls Louisville Journal:
fooscLuDED.l a0a aG
Few subjects are so important, so much dis
cussed, and so little understood as the rights Of
man. The nature of man is even yet mystery
physically, mentally, and morally. The very
existence OF his will, at least its freedom, on
which all duty and all right depend, is denied by
a numerous sect in religion, and by many philos-
ophes The very term right is not yet defined,
nor the alleged rights, even those declared to
be the self evident and the most essential of any
settled signifcation. What is liberty. What is
happinessi What is the pursuu Of happiness (;
original innocence, Others in the perfectibility Of
man. Some affirm, and others deny his capacity
for self-government-and many inquire what self
government is. Does it imply tue regulation of
his own conduct by each manor the government
ofa number OF persons by a majority of that num-
Der? IL happens, indeed, that almost every thing
that affects or determines the rights OF man, is
subject OF difference or dispute among the wise
and great, even in this enlightened age.
am, however, willing TO waive difficulties, and
to concede all that can, with any reason, he de-
manded, IN behalf Of authority, of opinion, of
usage. The writer OF "Justice" says that, If the
doctrine OF my lecture is correct call the princi-
Piles ON which our republican institutions rest are
false-that 'all men have right to life, liberty,
and the pursuit ofhappiness, is not only not uni
versa and 'sefevident truth, as is asserted in our
declaration Of Independence, but it is NOT spen
partial truth 1t is in all and in all respects
lie Now the doctrine OF the lecture involves no
such consequence. The lecture merely under
takes TO show that the two races Of white and
black, in the relation of master and slave in the
Southern States Of this Union, live respectively in
greater comfort and prosperity than in the North
SfntA x.yha ska., T.su II IL
superior and degraded classes, or than in tn.
South American States, where they are politically
equal, or than In separate nations. And this i.
shown by facts--facts which are established
Now the Inference from this, SO Far from being a
variance with the principles of the Declaration 0
Independence, would rather seem TO be that th
institutions Of the Northern States, and of foreign
nations, white and black, at greater varianc,
with that instrument than those of the Southern
States since superior comfort and prosperity i'm
ply the enjoyment ofa greater amount oflife, lib.
e,ty, and the pursuit of happiness and even Of its
attainment. And this is so clear that might rest
upon 1t as a conclusive reply to his assertion OF
variance between the lecture and the Declaration
ofIndependence. of But as that instrument is fire.
quenty cited in the controversy between the
North and the South, and is continually misun-
derstood and misapplied, | will avail myself of this
occasion to examine the subject still further
The Declaration is that " all men are created fret
and equal''-and are endo,ced by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights, and that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit Of happi
ness Now agree that our first parents wer
created free and equal and were endowed with
those rights which were inalienable. But the
Declaration is that all men are created free and equal
True. And so, some thousands of years after the
event, II was declared, For in six days the Lord
made heaven and earth and sea and ali that in them
u.s." 1t cannot be contended with reason that men
are no,c created. Such expression does no,
occur IN Scripture after the creation of our first
parents: I" On the seventh day God ended his
work" of creation, Besides, the works of God
are all good" But infants are born more or les.
inhrm or deprayed by the moral and ply scal in
hrmities of their parents. Sill less can it be as
serted that they are now created free and equal
Children are born in su6jecton to their parents
and in subsction to the social and political nstitu
tons Of the country of their birth, And this sub
lection is modified by the moral character of thei
parents--eP theirrace Adam and Eve were create,
free-free from subjection to their wants
But Adam, for his .transgression, was doomed t
earn his bread by the sweat of his face, from sol
cursed with sterility and with thorns and thistle
on his account. His liberty, even of eating bread
was restrained by the necessity Of telling for it
Such remains the condition of his race And Eve
because she was the first to transgress, was
doomed not only to certain restraints on her af
Observation-Disclosures which remain in all their forc
even to this day but was made subject to lie
husband, who was TO rule orer her, and all Chris
tan sects, except the Quakers, even now requr
the bride, in the marriage contract, to promise l.
"obey" her husband. CAIN for the murder Of hi
brother, was cut off from the liberty of obtanin
his bread by the soil at all" when thou tillest tn
ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee he
strength and ne therefore went off and built
CITY, IN which he became dependent exclusively o
his own powers, and from'hm sprang Tubalcan
the first manufacturer. But our progentors pro
ceeded to great wick edness, and human life wa
abridged to less than tenth of its former dura
tion, and remains to this day thus abbreviated
And when after the food the race undertook tc
build city and tower, their liberty of corporation
and intercourse was restrained by confusion o.
tongues or diversity of language, and this also still
prevails. So that the liberty and equality with
which men were created-the life, liberty, ant
pursuit of happiness with which they were en-
dowed by their Creator-have been by sin change,
to an inequality OF pursuit. to premature mortality
and to dissolution of social intercourse, to whicl
all ,cho are no,o born are subjected. Even il mel
could be said to be now created, and the period O
creation were fixed either at birth or adolescence
the degree of equality they endowed with il
limited to the class of that age, small minority
and endures not even for day or an hour, but il
changed by time, over which they have no con
trol-time, which acts with controlling power ovel
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Time
or age, gives to one man property and knowledge
and thus augments the inequalities of mind and
body and of locality in infancy or in manhood-p
equalities which no law or government can obviats
or ought TO obviate. .,.,.. .-.
Indeed, not only was there an immediate sub
lection of one sex to another established as tn,
consequence Of immediate transgression, but th
subIection of one man to another, of one brothe
TO another, on the principle of primogeniture
Thus, when Cain was angry at the preferenc
given to his brothers offering, the Supreme Bein
said unto him, why art thou wroth and why j
thy countenance falen' If thou doest well, shal
thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not wei
SIN liesh at the door. And unto thee shall be hi
desire and thou shalt rule oper him. So it seems
that Esau, the elder born, had birthrigh
which he improvidently alenated to Jacob, who
thereupon succeeded to the inheritance of the pro-
mise made to the seed OF .abraham. The blessing
bestowed upon him by Isaac, but intended for his
elder brother. was, "Let people serve thee and
nations bow down to thee be lord oper thy breth-
rem, and let thy mothers sons bow down to
thee" &c 1t is clear, therefore, that the Creators
original endowments of freedom and equality, or OF
life, liberty, and the pursuit Of happiness, were for.
feited by and that these bless
sings have been since enjoyed, has been deter
mined by the virtues and vices not merely of indi-
MAJ hat, ~. a r. ~r,t