The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-01-20

sions Of the masterl What are these circum-
stances bat the pressure Of the jsrring ele-
ments Of society," What indeed. but the had
passions of men The slave is at the mercy
Of a master, who must feel more or less the re-
sponsibility of his position. The freeman, who
il weighed down by the inevitable i'll that So
ciety Is subject to, has no tyrant but the hard
laws of demand and supply stern and I'M
chaugeabe. The one depends upon q master
whose interest II is tn raise him mp; the other
can look up only TO capital whose interest Is
autagonistc Ia labor
The slave enjoys a monopoly of labor, but
the freeman. who depends upon the occupation
Of the great and the little, has resort to the
greatest fattery and to arts that destroy his
selfrespect and must degrade bis character.
. The evils Of competition are not confined TO the
one hackneyed plague of the excessive rcduc-
ton OF prices. This is as nothing TO the daily
7 loss Of character that we see involved. and in
/ higher places, too. than among the poorest la
/ borers. Surely, me subsection 10 the superior
I force Of a master does not so debas the character
as IT'S voluntary sacrifice, its ready barter for Of
fee or profit"
The necessary inference from the foregoing
extracts is, that the author regards Slavery as
the happiest condition of the poor, whether
white or black If this is not his meaning
then he has been signally unsuccessful in ex-
pressing himself for the language admits of no
other construction. Indeed "A Carolinian
only carries to their legitimate results the prin
cipies laid down by the modern school of South
ern statesmen and diylnes They have gener-
ally guarded their language in such way as
! 70 exempt white persons from its application IN
terms, though without good reason. For, claim
/ in ba TO Of no bA
Divine sanction to Slavery they are bound to
take it in all It's length and breadth and any
one at all familiar with the Bible and with the
! history Of the ages in which its several parts
were written, is fully aware that nearly all the
! Slavery referred 10, in any way, was White
Slavery. The nations whom the Hebrews were
authorized by Moses to enslave were white
and the slaves, or servants, whom Paul and
Peter eniOined to be obedient to their masters
were white persons 80 that in fact, there is
preponderance Of Scripture in favor of ensla-
wing white men rather than black. If the Scrip
ture argument for Slavery be tenable at all
therefore, it would warrant the shareholders of
the South, and the wealthy classes all over the
Union, in enslaving their poor white neghbors
by the same means which were used for the
conversion of freemen into slaves under the
Mosaic dispensation, and in the Roman Empire
IN the time Of our Saviour and his Apostles
'phe sources of Slavery in those ages were sew
eral Prisoners taken in war were liable to be
sold as slaves by the conqueror, if they were
not redeemed by their countrymen in specified
time. Persons under the pressure of extreme
poverty were sometimes tempted to "raise the
wind " by selling their children. And fruit
full source of Slavery was debt--the law allow
ing the creditor to take possession of his debtor
and hold him as a slave. until the debt should
be paid-in other words, forever
The system of Slavery as it existed among
the Romans in the time of our Saviour and
his Apostles, was peculiarly cruel, and shock
ing, IN many of It's features to every humane
sentiment 1t conferred the power of life and
death upon the master, without restriction or
Intervention of law. "They were liable to
every kind of torture; and cruel masters some
times kept on their estates tOrmentors by pro-
tesslon, for the purpose of Furnishing their
slaves. Burning alive was sometimes resorted
to, and crucitixiOn was frequently In de the
fate of slave for trfling misconduct or from
more caprice They were sometimes cut in
pieces to feed fishes and the question was de-
bated, whether, in a Storm it were not polite
and proper TO save q valuable horse by the
sacrifice of u less valuable slave Slaves were
not merely not allowed to marry, but they were
not allowed to cOhabit because, owing to the
redundant supply, from war and other SOURCES,
1t was found cheaper to buy than to breed
them!*
Such was the White Slavery which existed a,
/ the time of the PRONUNCIATION of Christianity
and for which the sanction of Peter and Pau
+ is claimed by its modern champions.
: There was one feature of Jewish Slavery
under the Mosaic dspensation, which seems t,
= be entirely overlooked by the modern advo
1 Gates Of the system, viz that which regulated
= the treatment of fugitives They were not tC
o be sent back to thaS masters, as our laws re-
!, quire, but were to be permitted TO remain in
: the country or city to which they fed, although
/ it might not be ten miles distant This re.
o markabe feature of Mosaic Slavery in fact
y nulllted the whole system, and made it discre
: tonary with the slave to remain in that cond
i ton, or to be free Mt his pleasure But the
y Roman law allowed Of no such easy escape
l. from thraldom; and being sanctioned by the
It later dlspensation does awayn the y" Old
l. things which Moses established Such must
D be the construction of the Bible advocates OF
G the system.
| have digressed to some extent from the
: ubject set out with, as "A Caroliniann has
= not rested his defence of Slavery upon the
4 Scriptures. But the whole tenor of his rea.
soning going to prove that Slavery is preferable
= to Freedom, without regard to color, for all
{ men who have to labor for existence, | wished
, to show the entire agreement of his philosophy
Q with the Scripture argument in support Of it
e that the one and the other are al war witt
8 the recognised American doctrines of civil and
+ political liberty; and if admitted and sane
+ toned by the American People, the door i,
l. thrown open to the re-establshment of uni
yersal Slavery and dospotism Admit the prn
Y ciples laid down by "A Carolinian " and tn,
], Scripture argument for Slavery-once let tn,
g public mind settle down upon their correct
Y nsTs-and it will then become only question
i oteHpediency whether the great mass Of tn,
labFng population, including mechanics anC
e all Who are compelled to struggle for existence
j shall Ne reduced to Slavery Immediately, or Al
= n future day. The advocates of these despoti,
n dogmas will doubtless deny that they have tn,
4 remOtest wish to enslave white men; but
5 have shown, beyond controversy that all Their
arguments, whether philosophical or scriptural
y If they are good for anything, go to the extern
g of iustltying the enslavement of every poo,
0 white man in America There is no escaping
d this conclusion. IL will not do to discam tn,
!. intention, while they claim the right. The,
n may be sincerely opposed to enslaving whit,
"a men, and doubtless many of them are no a
: present; but once admit the Justice of Their
reasonings, and their children, growing VI
@ with the maxms of Despotism and Slavery
Q constantly sounding in their ears, will imbib,
Q them more thoroughly and exclusively thar
, the present generation have done, and ma,
!. have less scruple in carrying them out to the
# legitimate results.
= The reduction of white men to Slavery il
0 the United States may seem an impossbilit,
/ to those who have witnessed the rampant spir
p il Of Democracy in the free States but in tn,
Q South, the word Democracy would be a ride
3 ulous If it were not n cruel, mockery Imagin,
I a Democrat with hundred slaves Yet thi