The Yazoo Democrat., 1853-03-02
II II d D e M O C r A T
PHILLIPS & PERKINS. EDIroas
To the Duchess of Sutherland. ana
the Ladies' Of England.

AN'i otteiesS 10 your sisters, the women of
the United States, on the subject Of domestic
slavery, as 1t exists among US, which has appear
ca IN our public journals, should be acknowI-
edged By some one of the vast number of those
to whom it Is addressed, without awaiting the
publication of the more formal communication
There are some Of the concerns of life in which
iconvenuonalities are properly to be disreeartlel.
and this IS one of them. A reply TO your ad-
dress must necessarily be the work Of some in
dIvlcnai among US, or must go altogether per-
formed. Woman in the United States, with
but few EXCEPTIONS, confines herself within that
sphere for which the God who created her seems
10 have designed her Her circle is literally and
Iemphatcally; that of her family and such she
is content it shall be. Within that circle her
/ influence is felt over the relations of life as
wife, mother. mistress, and as she discharges the
duty Of one or oil of these relations so is she
respected or otherwise. To cast a doubt bpon her
fidelity in any one Of them, is to excite against
her the odium Of the community, and. in a great
measure. to hthrone her from her high position.
She knows nothing of political conventions OF
any other sort than such as are held under suit
able pastors of The Church, end are wholly direc-
ted to the advancement of the Christian relig-
ion. Such is emphaticaiiy the case with the
women of the Southern States Do-you wish
TO see them, you must visit their homes. Do
! ron desire to ascertain the nature Of their en-
ploTmclts, you must enter their family circles.
and believe M. eood sisters of England, you
would find in their CHRISTIAN department, and
amiablity Of manners, ebo,.sh, at once, TO in
spire you with the most exalted respect and es-
teem. You might find no splendid yestments
Of dress, no gittering diamonds. no aristooratlc
displays. No, the yestments they wear are those
of meekness and charity, their diamonds are
gems OF the heart. and their sp!endor. the neat
ness and order and contentment which every
where greets the eye ard that nea;ness, that
order. and that contentment, is in nothing more
observable than in Tie well-cotted and happg
domestics who welcome your arrival. and heap
upon you every comfort during your soioum
under The roofs of their masters. You will see
then how utterly impossible it would be to ex-
pect the women of the United States to asse na-
bic in convention either in person or by proxy,
in order 10 frame an answer to yodr adAtass-
Nay, must, moreover, in all frankuess, declare
TO you, that the women Of the South, especially
have not received your address in the kindest
spirit. They regard It as entirely Incompatible
with all confidence in, or consideration for. them,
to invoke the iuter-postion OF the women OF
what are called the free Staics IL a matter with
which they have no more to DO than have your
selves, and whose interference IN The question
can produce no other effect than to excite dis |
turbance and agitation and lll-wiIl, and posi-
bly. in the end total annihilation of kind feel
ing between geographical sections. II is the
province of the women of the Southern States
to preside over the domestic economy of the es-
tates and plantations of their husbands-it is |
emphatcally their province to visit the sick, and
attend to the comfort of all the laborers upon
such estates and it is felt to be buta poor com
pliment to the women of the South, to suppose
it necessary to introduce other superintendence
than their own over the condition Of their de-
pendants and servants. They see, too. or fancy
they see. in the fact that the address which you
have made them, was handed to you already pre-
pared for signatures, by the editions of The news
paper press of England, and that according to !,
the admission of the Duchess of Sutherland in
her open address to your Convention, your Con-
vention, itself, is but the offspring of the same
political press-I say. they see enough in all
this 10 excite not their sympathies but their ap-l
prehensions. They also see or fancy that they
see in your movement, the fingers of your great |
est statesmen. The Countess Of Derby, the Fls- /
countess Palmerston, the Countess Of Carlisle,
Lady John Russell, not to mention Others OF
distinction and notoriety, would scarcely be
complimented by supposition that they had
signed or openly approved such an address with
out the concurrence of their husbands. The
women of the Southern States are, for the most
part, well educated; indeed, they yield not IN
this respect to any females on earth, and they
have peculiar opportunities of acquiring knowl-
edge in regard to the public concerns OF the
world. Politics is almost universally the theme
Of conversation among the men in all their cote
ries and social gatherings, and the women would
be stupid indeed, If they did not gather much in
formation from this abundant source. Hence
they are not ignorant OF the rapid growth OF
their belo1 ed country, of the promises of its
early future. Their mothers knew this land
when it contained but three millions of inhabi
tants. and numbered but thirteen States. Their
children know it now, as the great confederated
republic whose population already equals 90
600, 600 and whose dominions are washed Dy
the waters of two oceans. Believe me, that its
magnitude now, and Importance in the future.
is as fully known to the women Of the United
States. as II is 10 your husbands, and editors,
and statesmen. Oar census tables show du-
I. - <,fea