The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1850-02-01
LETTERS TO THE NORTH.
NUMBER ;.

rest in The South only as stranger ana IRA
weller: that my object in these letters Is nrilh'
or to advocate slavery, or defend the Insli'u
ton, hut to narratr facts as | find them. In
the abstract | used TO regard slavery as an evil.
though never 10 the negro; aud now nave
.,me ,l,uhds whether it is an evil in any sense
of,he word. It is regarded as an evil, because
the slave States have moi filled up with emI
grants anil A.,nri.hed as rapidly rs the North
western fee States. But am constrained t.
bclieve that $ land mpnop"iy, a> Is termed
and the r,inonS system Of Agriculture tha' mas
prevailed. together with the poverty Il m'ch %
thc s,il. has hal m re TO do with producing
s,,rso nom,la,ion. and worn out fields, than
slavery: that is, that the same results would
hav. followed The same system OF owning large
tracts Of land, aud culriva,ing Int small portions
Of that in some cxhan>'ng staple crop, ii it had
hecn done by hired iahor. 1t is charged 'ha,
s,,vsrv corrnuts the morals of the whites.
Upon this point it is certain that II inc "n'''
nopula,inn of The South are no better than they
should be-, they are no worse than the'r ne'sh,
bors. Aud | mlsi say that the proportion OF
crime is much less here than al The .\orth.-
What. the n, arc the evils OF the institution AL
evil must be an injury TO some one. An i'i]''r,
mast hurt or make some one unhappy ana
very great, it will p"rforcc make the afflicted
opr very miserable. Isolated cases may bc
found where all this happened. And so II has
happrncd IN the matrimonial state. But n"
more IN one than in the other has it proved
preat curse TO the human family.
: The first slaves ever landed in America were
,wen,v in number. from DuIch man .ot war,
!, lanes River. in 1920. Fur a long time
after this, they were an article OF traffic 10 all
the Colonies. No doubt they were sometimes
cruelIy treated in early times. but very differ.
on, teeIinp now exists between master and
slave. In more than half the cases the pres
cut owners have grown up with the negroes,
and have bccn nursed by them in infancy and
sickness, and an attachment has grown up WIN
them for one another as strong as exists ne
tween the members of New England family.
II is not in the nature OF things Tor masters
thus reared to he cruel to their people, or Tor
those people not to entertain feelings OF s'ro"g
attachment, to such masters.
Would il not be well to inquire why the ne.
gro race has always been subjected to the con.
di,ion Of slaves by the whites, Tor such is the
fact. Long before European ships visited The
African coast the Arabic caravans bought Inc
negroes of their negro enslavcrs ana sofa them
to the whites; and it we believe the Bible we
mus, believe the traffic was sanctioned OF God.
l, is an undeniable truth that they arc and ever
have been a nation OF savages, unaffected ny
Surrounding civilization, and that they never
have been civilized or Chrisianlz:d except IN
q state of subicc,ion TO white masters.
Has Africa ever produced negro hero, or
II -, Nnt
Because few Of the negroes among US DO
occasionally exhibit bright intellectual quail:
lies, many good philanthroPists have been led
to believe that the whole race might be elevated
10 the same standard, and have come blindIy to
the opinion that the first great necessary step
TO brine about this wonderful result, will be to
declare them free, and insist that they are equal
to the white race.
Are these good but erring men aware, that
there is almost as much difference between The
different tribes of the negro race as mere Is be'
tween the blacks and whites!
For instance, the JooEs seem to he almost
distinct race Of negroes, aud have been com.
paraively civilized people from The era OF their
first discovery by the Portuguese.
"Taosc of Guher and Hausa, where consi'
derable degree of civilization has long existed,
arc perhaps the finest race of negroes in AtII-
ca. unless the Jolois arc sIch and should be
excepted"
By shareholders the Coromantcs arc esteem
ed the mos, intelligent and most capable Of be-
ing taught; making trlsty and good drivers TO
URGE on those of more sluggish nature, hut
very inpatient and turbulent at being driven
themselves. These negroes are of dingy
copper color; their lips and high cheek homes,
like the North American Indians. Some OF
them will lay down and die, rather than yield
to he driven to work by the whip. In their ma,
tive land they are never kept as slaves, on ac-
count of their suikncas.
The next in the scale Of value, or perhaps
they are equal, are the C"ngos. They are tall,
straight, brigh, copper.colored. smooth skin.
small rough hands, and make good initiating
mechanics in that respect, like the Chinese.
They are from the southern coast OF West AfrI.
ca. between south latitude and ID deg;
district of country that contains the Kingdoms
of Loango, Congo, Angola, Matambo. and
BengueIa, which was discovered by the Portu.
puese, in 1881, ever since which they have
made slaves and converts of the inhabitants,
the greater portion Of whom, notwithstanding
their contact with the numerous Portuguese
settlements in their country. and the strenuous
cffnrts of the missionaries for more than three
.,;ll ,op,, in SINK in tho DrOsSnSt ba ar-