The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-06-02
" lie praycth best, who loveth well


often felt to be fact, that many most
rabid Abolitionists here in the North,
were saved by circumstances of birth and
education alone. from being more rabid
Shareholders and slavery-advocatcs in the
South And while they 60 about thank
ing God they are not as other men, and
heaping taunts and epithets of shame
upon their unfortunate countrymen, they
would do well sometimes to refresh their
minds with uiat constitutes them differ
ent from other men, Other circum-
stances 1coud have developed William
Lloyd Garrison into as fiery Hotspur,
as chivalric Carolina ever called her SON
We can imagine a man, the very counter
part of Senator Seward, if of Southern
extraction, crossing swords with the real
Seward from n Y, in hot defence of the
peculiar institution that had entailed to
him a large plantation well stocked with
willing and docile blacks.
And we cannot forbear adding here.
that there is one character, which, in JUS
tice to the South, Mrs. Stowe should
have given an appropriate niche in her
volumes Nothing has 50 much retard
ed the cause of the Slave, as unwarrant-
ed and unwise agitation. This it is. that
has kept Southern blood at the boiling
point. Now since her work is likely to
live, as record of this contest letween
North and South, fairness to the latter
would have prompted her to depict one
of those pyrotcchnists, who have been
ccaselessly shooting ont in fzz and fury,
to the annoyance and irritation of the
only class Of persons who have the right
to liberate those who are in bondage
This little favor, Mrs Stowe owed to
the men of the South, both as philanthro-
pists and as men. They have enough to
bear when the best is told of them
And being human, it would have been
well. if poslerity had inherited full
length portrait ofthose agitators who have
done so much to deter them from benev-
olent action
We next proceed to some comments in
regard to the portraiture of Negro char
acter. OF Geo Harris and Eliza. his
wife. we have only to say, that the pre-
misses make such characters borely poss-
iblc, and that scarcely in Kentucky.
Still, very much Of interest and pathos
is attached to them and their fortunes
However, we were conscious of tagging
in our attention. as soon as they were
left in the hands of the good Friends
We confess, too. that the dcNoUemcM at
their house in Canada, did violence to
our idea of probability. The escape of
| Eliza across the Ohio is an old picture
by new artist. who has done it most
admirably-Sam is roguish fellowquite
to the life. We are prepared to believe
anything in his treatment of Haley, up
to the parting salute near the river The
deepest mock respect acOu/d have been in
character there Sam could gain moth
ing by his bare faced impudencc, and he
was not so much out of Haley's power,
as to tempt him to the inflction of chas-
tisement Slave-dealers are not such char
acters as negroes are fond of openly tr.-
fling with We think this a palpable over
shot Of the mark-There was material in
/ Sans character that deserved better than
Il silent burial so early in the tale. We
were reminded of Neshobee in the Green
/ Mt. Boys'-Poor Aunt Chloe. with hel
labors of love for her ole man" and
/ her sad heart-break. at last. is one of the
most touching things in the book Her
system Of family discipline, as displayed
in the cabin, is graphic enough We
have an amusing picture Of the toddling.
teasing "wee things" plenteous and as
easily raised as mushrooms Then, there
is Topsy. Surely, she is not without her
prototypes. Her naice admissions of
her own individual total depravity, as
well as that of niggers in general,
would have been satisfactory to the most
orthodox school of divines in the land
Classy has 50 much that is intellectual in
her character, that in spite of all the
scenes of degradation that have fallen
to her lot, we cannot fail to be interest
ed in her. She has much of the Anglo
/ Saxon element in her composition.-O
course, Uncle Tom is the crowning char
acter of all. And never in tale or in
verse, was there another such hero.
There was true heroism in him And
whether to our shame or not, such
character is less impossible in the Afri-
can race, than in our own There were
no noisy outbursts where the conflict was
/ waged. Nevertheless there lgaS heroic
conflict. His was the true heroism, be-
ginning at home and ending there-fnd-
/ ing the real field of contest in his own
heart, and appropriating, with misery
care, all of Gods dealings to its more
thorough discipline for Heaven And
through much bitterness and sorrow, the
warrior came off victorious. We say
again, as a delineation of Christian char
acter, we know of nothing equal to it,
in any uninspired volume If any NOR
tai was ever ripe for Heaven, it was poor
Uncle Tom
The character of St Glare is the most
artistic thing in the whole book. 1t is
a full-length portrait of a Southern gen
tlenan, and we had almost said, the on
ly full-length portrait in the work We
are forced to except Uncle Tom, St
Clare has much nicely Of texture in
body and mind From the beginning to
the end of our acquaintance with him.
that skeptical playfnlness, which is
at the same time, SO full of sad
earnestness, is faithfully preserved
His illusions to his sainted mother, re
mind us of the influence, in moulding his
character and destiny, which Lamartine
attributes to his mother This charac-
ter is so well done, that we almost ven
ture the opinion, that the author drew
from life. If not so, the character was
most thoroughly studied, to be made the