Washington sentinel., 1854-06-29
cial system, and suggest plans of reconstruc.
ton Saws the North British ReuieiC:

calculations of social questions. 4" LGrgaHt-d
tioA dfs 1rapaRo :" Destinee Socials," Etades snr
les sprincipales de la MiSere y" De Ia condition
physique d morale des jeslaes Onprers, such are
some Of the titles of class of French books
already library. The thing in fact, has become
a profession in France. Men of all kinds and OF
all capacities men who do not care one iartning
about The condition Of the people, or about the
condition OF anybody except themselves, as well as
men of real goodness and philanthropy, now write
books full of statistics about the working classes
and OF plans for diminishing the amount OF social
| evil. And so, too in this country. The "condi-
tion ofihe England question" has become the target
at which every callow willing must aim his shaft.
All literature seems 10 be flowing towards this
channel, that there seems likelihood that We
shall have literature at all but literature
Of social reference.
Louis Napoleon, Cavaignac, and Lamartine,
are socialists, little less thorough and less
wild than CADET, Louis Blanc, anda Proudhon.
If there be q man in France satisfied with soci-
ety as it is, we have not heard of him.
We arrive now at the last and least of our
witnesses. A monkey spirit of imtativeness,
not real suffering as yet has made our northern
neighbors transcend Europeans in their denun-
Citations of slavery, religion, law, and govern
ment. They have proved to the world that, if
not half 80 poor, they arc, at least, twice as
| wicked as Germans or Frenchmen. Free society
/ uOeS well euOuRu III new Souhti uhu thc
| free negro States are yet new country. Rapid
| immigration will bring on premature senihty
and decreptude. In that event Horace Gree
ley, Abby Folsom, Lucy Stone, and Wendell
| Phillips, stand ready to rejuvenate society, by
| abolishing property, religion, marriage, law,
| and order. When these and all other exped-
ents have failed as they surely will do, and ever
| have done, the sovereign remedy, Of domestic
slavery-a remedy which never did tail-will
be prescribed by that good physician, nature,
to bring order out of chaos-vigor, health, and
purity out Of disease, rottenness and prostilu-
ton. Free society has become diseased by
abolishing slavery. 1t can only be restored to
pristine health, happiness, and prosperity by
re-instituting slavery-by taking society out Of
the hands of the quack practitioners, who have
brought her to her low estate, and turning her
over to the exclusive treatment OF that good
Samaritan to the victims of empiricism-the
ris medicatrir nature. Slavery may be admin
istered under a new name-the kind physician,
with an address peculiar to the faculty, may
sugar-coat it with an attractive exterior and a
melliAuous appellation; but come back in fact
it will and must. If you expel nature with a
fork, she will return again = or, in the eloquent
language of Solomon:
The thing that hath been, il is that which shall
be and that which is done is that which shall be
done; and there is no new thing under the sun.
Slavery has been too universal not to be
natural, and it is vain for man to struggle
against nature.
The experiment Of free society in western
Europe has been made on a small scale, and
for short time. They talk of slavery as an
enormity; we see that free society--not to
mention free negro society, is a monstrosity.
Like all monsters, it will be shortlived. We
dare and do vindicate slavery in the abstract.
This is the only tenable ground for its defen-
ders. We lose the authority of the Bible, of
ancient history, of the universal practice of
mankind (which is but the stern and fixed
ordination Of Providence,) if we confne the
vindcation to negro slavery. We thereby ad-
NIT that the Bible is false and wicked, and
that the practice of mankind in all ages-fom
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from Pharaoh,
Joseph and Moses, from Christ, Paul, and the
Fathers, down through all history, sacred and
profane till now-have been unjust and cruel;
for negro slavery is new thing. Having ad-
mitted slavery in the general to be wrong,
we are driven to prove that the negro is
not man, he is a man-a little above
the monkey, indeed, as the Caucasian is
"a little below the Angela weak, impro
vident man, but not bad man, except when
deprived OF master, which nature never
designed him to be. He needs master to
protect and govern him but SO do the ignorant
poor in old countries, where labor is cheap and
employment scarce. Besides, what shall we
do with the mulatto?
The abolitionists themselves furnish US with
the most conclusive arguments in favor of
slavery; because they always find that the
same reasons which show slavery to be wrong,
apply, with equal force, to all other institutions
and relations of society. They begin by
assailing slavery, and end by attempting to
uproot the whole fabric of society. Their
efforts result, as all attempts to improve upon
nature result, either in ridiculous failure, or
disastrous ruin. The effect Of their treatment
of the imaginary evils they would cure, if ELI
cient at all, would be that described by the
epitaph on the grave stone:
| was well;
wished TO be better
took physic,
| And here am.
Happily for the south, the conduct Of her
northern assailants is initiative and second
hand, suggested and prompted by like attempts
at reformation abroad, which have all proved
wretched and miserable failures. The English
and French literature since l848, furnishes
| overwhelming evidence of the failure of free
society in western Europe, and furnishes the
! southerner with ample material for waglng
war against it, as well as for vindicating and
justifying southern slavery. We have stood
on the defensive long enough. We can throw
fre-brands as well ms abolitionists and the
| poor in the free negro States are much more
ready for insurrection than the slaves of the
| south. The emphatic declaration of the most
honest and learned, and intellectual men, liv-
ing in the midst of free society, that it has
| proved failure, win have some weight with
the American public, whatever it may think Of
the advocacy Of this journal--interested, par
| tial, and biased as it may be charged to be.
The same article Of the North British Re
riep, from which we have quoted SO copiously,
! Literature and the Labor Question, February
| 1857 has few sentences, towards its close
descriptive Of the present bent of the English
mind, which is not inappicable to our own
country:
| What a contrast there is between the thoughts
| Of our parliamentary and official men on social
topics, and the thoughts Of the general inteec, OF
| the country Within the heparliameniary and official
circle find, with one or two exceptions, a
| detritus Of old whig and tory traditions that never
had much in them; without that circle, and dash
ing against il so 10 threaten IL with speedy
overthrow, is sea of vague and daring specua-
tlon Within parliament, the very principle oi
procedure seems 10 be 10 avoid large mea-
Iii hnts sl