The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-08-23
GARRISON ON SLAVERY.

At the recent Long Island celebration of the
Abolition of Slavery in the British West Indies,
to which we alluded last week, Mr.. Garrison
made the following printed remarks:
"The West Indian planters said, in the first
place. to the Abolitionists, mind your own bust
ness Ave, said the Abolitionists, our business
is to cry aloud and spare not against oppres
sion--our business is to denounce every tyrant
on the face of the earth, in this or any other
country. The planters then said the slaves are
better off in Slavery than in Freedom-better
to have no rights than all rights-better off to
have no compensation than to be well paid for
their labor-better off to know nothing of read
ing and writing than to be educated. This is
the logic of Slavery, and it is more insane than
the insanity of Bedlam. There has never yet
been a sane argument in favor of Slavery.
There are various kinds of insanity and idiocy !;
and if man attempts an argument in favor of
one man owing another, it Is the argument of
idiocy. He needs no argument, but he needs
brains. Another argument was, that the slaves
were entirely unfit for Freedom-as if God ever
made a human being not prepared for Free
dom. No man can be made fit for Slavery until
you have crushed out his spirit blotted out his
humanity, and brought him to the condition as
near as possible to that of the beast. They said,
too, that the slaves were an inferior race; and
that, being inferior, they should be governed by
the superior; and the shareholders being superb
or, they were entitled to hold them in bondage.
Inferior? When have they had a chance to
show that they were equal? When has an ex-
pertinent ever been made, under equal circum-
stances, that the result has not been exceeding
ly honorable to the colored man in competition
with the white man? They had their religious
argument, too. They quoted scripture in sup
port of their ideas; and having adverted to Ones
linus, therefore, the New Testament proves the
divine authority of Slavery, and West Indian
Slavery is of God. Another objection was, that
the slaves being an overwhelming majority, the
very moment they we're emancipated they would
commence the work of exterminating the mas.
tiers. To this the Abolitionists replied: This
is hallucination of your minds. If they do not
do this when you rob them of their labor, when
you pollute their wives and daughters before
their eyes, lacerate and stain them, will they do
it when you give them their Freedom? Will
they destroy you when you have thrown the
branding-iron away, and have ceased to sell
their children? The sequel shows how utterly
groundless were all these anticipations. The
planters said, too, that the negroes would not
work when free, and they being deeply concern
ed in seeing men go straight, feel that it was
their prerogative to make men work who do not
work. On this assumption, they held it to be
their right to keep their slaves in bondage. The
reply was 1. is for the slaves to say whether
they will do work or not; and it is not for you
to determine for them and if your argument
be good for anything-that the slaves should be
left in bondage in order to make them work, In
asmuch as you planters do not work, white men
are the LATEST people under Heaven, and if men
who in freedom will not work should be made
slaves, then you ought at once to be reduced to
slavery. They said that the English Abolition
lists were fanatics, infdels, incendiaries; and
Wilberforce was denounced on the floor of the
Parliament as hoary-headed traitor, because
of his godhke efforts in behalf of West Indian
emancipation. And because we have made
ourselves one with millions in our land, the
same bulls are showered down upon US. Had
Whberforce or his compeers ventured to visit
the West Indies before the emancipation took
place, they would have been put to death. Now,
everywhere in the West Indies are the busts Of