The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-05-24
TRIP TO THE NORTH.
BY Mr.. FITzHUGH, AUTHOR OF SOCIOLOGY.
LIBERTY PARTY-FAILURE OF FREE SOCIETY
ISSUES ETC.
From the Richmond (va.) Enquire

From the Richmond (Va) Enquirer
1t seemed to me that, in attempting to prove
" Free Society Failure" in my lecture at New
Haven, was but carrying Goals to New Cas-
tie" The Liberty party, at least, discovered
that long before / did, and are as intent on sub
verting and reconstructing society at home, as
on abolishing Slavery with US. A part of them,
/ will not undertake to say how large a portion.
are infdels, who find the Bible no impeachment
to their schemes of social reform because they
assert that it is false. This wing of the Liber-
ty party is in daily expectation of discovering
a new Social Science, that will remedy all the
ills that human flesh is heir to. They belong
to the schools of Owen, Louis Blanc, Fourier,
Compile, and the German and French Socialists
and Communists. The other wing, and proba-
bly, the most numerous wing of the party is
composed Of the Milenial Christians--men who
expect Christ, either in the flesh or the spirit,
| soon to reign on earth the lion to lie down
with the lamb every man to sit down under
| "his own vine and fg-tree )" all to have an in.
terest in lands; marrying and giving in mar.
rage to cease; war to be abolished; and peace
and good will to reign among men. They are
as intent on abolishng all church government
and authority, as the infdels. They would,
equally with them, trample on all law and Gov
eminent, because Liberty is" say they, A" an
inalienable right )" and law, religion, and Gov.
eminent continue to protect Slavery. Marriage,
Christian marriage, which requires the ODE
dience of the wife, is Slavery; and they would
modify it or destroy it. Land monopoly, they
say, gives toproperty or capital a greater power
over labor than masters have over slaves; hence
they very wisely and logically conclude, that
land, like air aud water, should be common
property.
The Liberty party is composed Of very able
men, of philosophers and philanthropists. They
have demonstrated, beyond doubt, that Sla-
very is necessary, unless they can get up a mil.
lenlum, or discover a new social science. The
increasing crime and poverty of mankind, and
the utter failure of all social experiments, like
those of Owen and others, indicate neither the
advent of the one nor the discovery of the other
This Liberty party are the best allies Of the
South, because they admit and continually ex
pose the utter Failure of Free Society.
One of the most distinguished of this party
thus writes to Wendell Phillips, ESQ.,:
II cannot refrain from expressing, in this
connection, my grief, that many Abolitionists
have allowed their faith in the Bible to be sha.
KEN"
In my short trip to the North, was struck
with nothing so much the avowed infdelity
of many, and the Christianity melting into in
fidelity" of the great mass of the balance with
whom | conversed. | have no doubt however,
that, although such state of things is too COM
mon at the North, yet my peculiar associations
made the evil appear greater than it really is.
The religious and the conservative, like the lily
of the valley, are silent and secluded.
have lately received book, in two vol
umes, entitled the Democracy of Christian
ity," from it's author, William Goodell, of New
I l. - r. Al Il L
author evinces much ability, ingenuity, and re-
search. He is one of the Millenial Christians
obviously pious and sincere. He sees no exo-
dus from the appalling evils of Free Society,
except that state of perfect equality, peace, hap
piness, and security, that he, like the men of
CromwelPs day, thinks is promised and predict
ed in the Bible. / cite the following passage
from the conclusion of his work:
"Glance over again the items included in
these predictions: The general and permanent
prevalence of peace-the result Of Justice, equi-
ty, security, and the actual possession, by each
and every one, Of his vine and fg-tree ii. e.,
Of soil sufficient to produce the needful fruits Of
the earth, or in some way supply of his ply
steal wants."
If this state of things ever occurs, God will
bring it about without the help of Abolitionists.
We do not deem it necessary to quote from
the infdel agrarians and Abolitionists, because
their splendid promises and bloody and disas-
trous failures have been matters of every days
history and of every days occurrence, from the
times of Marat and the guillotine to those Of
Lamartine and Cavaignac.
| The Proletariat Of France, the nomadic pau
per-banditti of England, the starving tenantry
| of Ireland the Lazzaroni of Italy, and the half
savages of Hayti, are the admitted results of
| practical Abolition. But, say the Liberty par
ty, Abolition has stopped half way; abolish
churches, law, Government, marriage, and sep
arate the property in lands, and then the scheme
will work charmingly.
Well, possibly it will but, as we are very
happy, comfortable and contented, in slave So
ciety, suppose you try the "experimentum in
vile corpus" Begin at home, and if the exper-
iment works WELL we of the South will follow
your example. You have little Eden now,
near Lake Oneida. Some hundreds of Oneida
perfectionists, living in primitive simplicity,
among whom there is no marrying or giving
in marriage" no separate property, all things
enjoyed in common and, we suppose, neither
priest nor officer to disturb or mar the harmony
of millenial society. awe but tell the tale as
twas told to u.s." Does it work well? If so,
why not form all your institutions on that model?
You, of the Liberty party, seem to think that
"passional attractions" and attractive labor"
pense with the necessity of Church and State
Law and Religion, Priest and Officer. You
think you follow nature, but in truth you are
superficial observers of nature. Man, it is
true, is social and gregarious animal; but like
all animals Of that kind, he is, by nature, law
making and law-abiding. The bees and ants
are ruled by despotic and exacting Govern
ments, and by laws and regulations, wise and
less changeable than those of the Modes and
Persians. But man is not only law-making
animal but religious one also. In renting
him to a state of anarchy and infdelity, you
would not remit him to state of nature, but
one of continuous, DISCRIMINATING warfare, such |
as France witnessed during the Reign of Terror.
/ find, Messrs. Editors, that am somewhat
wandering from the subject with which l com /
menced, and will Conclude, for the present at
least.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G.F.
Mr.. Fitzhugh is as unfortunate in his obser-
vations as his philosophy. The exception he |
regards as the rule. He evidently thinks the
few theorists he has met with at the North are
fair representatives of its opinions. The People
of the South are childshly ignorant of the So
cial system and condition of the free States.
Ed. Era.
ANNIVERSARY MEETINGS OF THE WEEK.-We
give comparative statement of the receipts of
the principal associations for the three years
last past, as presented in the Annual Reports.
The receipts for the year 1856 are, with but
one exception, below those of the preceding
year, but generally are fully equal to, and in
some instances considerably exceed, those re-