Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-10-11
Letter of Hou. HENRY A. Wise.0

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i Boston and Hon. Henry A. Wise. DR..
q. propounds in his letter the following !
Inquiries
3 At the South I heard you, sir, and I
your opinions spoken Of with great re-
speot as representing one side of che sub
ject. 1t would strengthen me much in \
my aim to do good to know your opin-
ions on q few points, viz:
L. What idea have you of the destiny
of the slave population of the United
States
9. What is your conviction with re-
gard to the prncticability and usefulness
70 all concerned of the colonization
scheme Z
8. If a slave asserts his liberty and
runs away, do you feel that he ought to
be recovered, or has he natural right to
escape if he chooses Z
4. Does Slavery west of Georgia and
in the Southwest differ much as to seyeri-
ty from that in the eastern and central
southern States -..
s. Is emancipation desirable or posi-
BILE in any view Of it, if the blacks are to
remain here Where did John Ran
dolPh's slaves find refuge at last, after be-
ing driven out by the several free States?
Mr.. Wise's reply is a splendid produc-
ton cogent in its reasoning original
and striking in its illustrations; vigorous.
manly and eloquent throughout. We re-
1ret that we have not space to lay before
our readers even such a synopsis OF it, as
will do justice to its unanswerable argu-
ment, commanding eloquence and lofty
tone.
He begins by enlightening DR.. Adams
as to the feelings and relations of the
South in the matter of slavery. 1t shows
that slaves are sacred as property by the
moral as we'll as municipal law, and that
the interference Of the North can only
ALLEVIATE the affections of patriots on which
alone the Union rests. His answer to the
first question is admirable. replete with
sound sense and playful wit. Mr.. Wise
does not profess to know the designs OF
Providence. Nevertheless, he has no
doubt some wise end was in view, in bring
ing Africans from q worse state Of slave
~ in their own country to milder one
here, and from PaganiSm 10 Christianity.
In two centuries. 434, CTS Of them in the
United States have been set free, and the
Slave States have liberated more than the
Free States. The following passage.
showing the effect of American Slavery
upon the African is so strong and stri.
king that we must give il entire:
There are 3,2o4.3l3 slave population
In tho United States, which, for civii1a-
ton, arts, arms, social and moral bless.
iugs, are worth all the princi pnlities
powers. and people of all Africa, without
excepting the Dutch, Portuguese and Eng.
Enh GottIoro0fO tbora from kn NIL,
through Timbuctoo, to the Cape of Good
Hope ! In the very words | would repeat
this proposition thousand times to en-
phasi5e it and show l mean literally
what l say: that the defendants Of Africa
now here in bondage, in the United States,
are, en- masse, as a whole wealth of peo-
pie, in bodily comfort, mortality, enlight.
eminent, Christianity, and actual personal
freedom, worth more than their mother
country entire, not excepting the Euro
peans there combined with the natives
This is no boast, but a fact which chal-
lenges comparison. This is an enor-
nous result. Nothing short of tho pow
er Of God could have effected this prodi-
gious result upon near four millions Of
human beings in so short time as that
of two centuries. Gods Churches in the
southern States Of this Union have done
this, some and all, operating both upon
the masters and slaves.
The Methodist and Baptist churches
have been the great APOSTLES among these
4entiles And thus add another pro
position, to wit: that slavery, American
slavery, in tho United States. has been
the most efficient missionary among She
heather in the last two centuries. No,
by going to Africa and raising affairs
there at first, but bringing the fathers
here and preparing priests to go back t.
Africa and bear christian torches through
the darkness of her night.
The answer Of Mr.. Wise to the first
question is-The destiny Of the slave
population in the United States is towards
Africa. The second question is answered
to the reply OF the first. Looking to the
ends Of ultimate colonization, and what
he considers the true policy of the State S
At homo, Mr.. Wise would prohibit by law
the future emigration Of the FREQ colored
population from the slave 10 the free
States. lie expresses the opinion that g
marked revolution would have been pro
duced if slave labor had been permitted
in California. He thinks Virginia. North
Carolina, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee
and Kentucky, and perhaps the cotton
and sugar plantations would have been
Gmptied of black laborers to work the
gold mines. This. says Mr.. Wise
"Would not have difFused slave power
but would rather have concentrated the
slaves all, comparatively. in one State,
and thus have weakened its federal
strength in the Union and Eve years OF
their labor in the gold mines would have
enriched masters so that they could more
ably emancipate thom at the end of that
time. than they could now sell them for
full market price and when emancipa-