The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-12-08

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the legality Of Slavery can be satisfactorily
made out by this Trocess--the only one that
could, for q moment, be accounted feasible
Very possibly you may have so long heard OF
the legal relation of master and slave, and
Of The vested rights OF slaveholders that
you have taken for granted that there must be
fomething of reality somewhere, to correspond
with these confident pretensioDs.
What II it should appeal that not the first
step can be taken successfully in support Of
them What if i, shall be fould, that not a
single lawyer in the United States shall he
able 10 produce a statute cre sting and defining.
with the requisite distinctness, such q relation
! What If the Judges and Senators Of slave
! States shall be cited to testify that they know
OF no such statutes aud have never heard OF
any sUchl What if the whole legal history
| Of Slavery and Of the Slave Trade shall DC
| found barron Of any snch ncdeo,st Whist il
that history, when examined carefully, shall
furnish evidence Ogaind any such legalization
of slaveholdns! What it, instead Of having
been introduced according 10 law, it shall be
shown to have been introduced without and
even against law What 4 it shall appear
that the Legislative bodies ana the judicial tri-
bunals, bent On the support of Slavery at the
| pres, MT time, will not and dare not permit the
| legality Of Slavery to be Intercepted or judi
ciaily scrutinizeds
| shall not wait for the champions Of legal
lied Slavery 70 come forward and produce the
evidences of their claims ! know they will be
! cautious how they undertake any task of the
kind. They are always loud in Affirming the
| legality Of slayeholding, but they are backward
to exhibit their proofs. shall therefore pro
coed to examine the legal history Of slayehold
ing, in the course Of which the claims Of legal
lied Slavery will, | trust be subjected to a
scrutinizing review. WILLIAM GooDELL.
The following appears in the Richmond Dis
patch Of November 2lst
abolition School Books We recently called
the attention Of the Southern public TO an Abo.
| li,ion school book, edited by Charles d. Cievo-
land, of Philadelphia, and which is circulated
in the South We did so on the authority OF
correspondent stating at the time that We
had no personal knowledge of the character OF
the book. We have since received a commu-
nication from Richmond friend residing in
Philadelphia, fully confirming the statement of
our other correspondent He says that Chas
ID. Cleveland is one Of the very rankcst and
ultra Free Soil Aboltionists in the whole coun-
try. He il the rghtband man Of Birney, the
son Of Jas. G.. Birney, who edits the Abolition
Register a daily paper published in Philadel-
pima and sustained by tho funds Of the Adolf
| tionists.
"The people Of the South cannot | too care
full how they credit books emanating from such
sources, in their midst In fact, sll school books
coming from the infected districts ought to be
subjected to a rigid examination"
-, VIRGINIA, Nov. %, 1853.
We cannot but sympathize with the writer
of the paragraph quoted above from the Rich
mond Dispatch, in the panic he evidently labors
under in regard 10 the welfare of the peculiar
inititution of tho South and we would advise
him, by all means, to carry his plan for promo
ting education into operation as soon as he can,
~ idcr that oil the benefit possible may be
derived ,o ID ltf I'm IT, Particularly would We urge
spelling books, dictionaries, arithmetics gram
mars. Biographies. histories and Blbes pub.
lished at the North The very fact of being
taught TO spell, according to system, out OF II
book published in district Of country infected
by abolition principles, even if all obnoxious
words should be excluded must initiate great.
ly against that noble and independent mode OF
spelling practiccd in some parts Of the country
by many of those who are gifted with the power
of reading and writing. Dictionaries, too,
should be carefully examined; for, since their
| avowed object il to teach the true meaning OF
words, some Of the definitions may he at vari-
ance with the peculiar sense in which it il de-
| sirsbie TO use them south of Mason and Dixon 4
| line
The objection 10 Northern arithmetical
works is not up0n first thought, evident in
deed, unlegs it rests upon their inculcating cor
rect modes Of calculating the payment OF just
debts, think our friend of the Dispatch little
over fearful upon that point We do not won
der 81 much that Northern Erammars should
| be brought under the ban for what chivalI,c
son of the South would be willing that his chill
drcn should be brought under the control OF
| even grammaticai rules laid down for them by
a Northern writer however deeply in the very
nature of language itself those rules may have
their origin Latin grammar Ny Mr.. Cleyo-
land must DO decidedly sn incendisry rCblica-
ton.
Biographies might be considered, by some,
extremely harmless productions under any or
ounstances. Bat no. our friend II the DIS
patch has doubtless had penetration enough to
| discover that It 10 the direct tendency OF all
those published Mt the North b show that Of
| all Christian countries, with the exception OF
this free and enlightened Ropublc--by whose
unqualified declaration ali men are born free
and equal--ony those just emerging from semi
barbarian tolerate legal slavery III any shape.
| History Of all kinds should DO decidedly pro-
| hibited. until few works Of tho sort can be
got up expressly for the Southern market, from
which every expression suggestive Of the love
| of liberty and the efforts made for the attain
| ing of it by the enslayed in all ages, should be
expungod; the fact that slavery has in all tune
been inmical 10 tho best interests of State
be suppressed ard that despotc rule has al
ways become tyranny be fatty contradicted
| THIS method of writing may render tho study
Of history rather limited, but that will save the
eyes of pupils IA the generality Of the school
books published at the South are most mssra.
bic specimcn Of tho art Of printing
The book, however which should be most
zealously guarded against, is the Bible. All
friend Dispatch! yod nre surely right there
The Northern Bibles arc very dangerous book
to put into the hands Of thore who are 10 b.
trained up to hold the bodiesand souls OF God'
men and women in bondage. Tho one com
mand, "Do unto others even as ye would tina
they should do unto you" niuy put your chil
drcn upon thinking whether they are to obey
the commands Of God, TN To uphold I'm institu
ton tho existence Of which is preserved by
direct violation Of this fundamental principle o
Christianity. Forbid Northern Bibles, then, b,
all means, and have one prepared with note
adapted to the promotion Of your own pecuia
institution, us is stli practiccd in countries tina
could he mentioned where the Tyranny whicl
can b, M longer exercised over the bodies o
men is exerted to hold their minds ia the lroI
thrall OF u rigorous bondage.
Seriously, ii the subject we're not one nvoy
ing such monontous consequences such m ar
ticie AS the one under confederation would onl
move to laughter. Save your strength, irien
Dispatch, for some cause proportioned 10 Il
vigor, and attempt neither ~ cnock the onwar