The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-04-05
CIVILIZATION IN THE SOUTH.


fold benefits Of a system which makes one man
the property of another. 1t is regarded in the
South as rich contribution to the Literature
of Slavery, choice library of which is in pro-
cess of formation, composed, we believe so far.
of some of Carlyles tracts, Parson Adams's
Sunny Side of the Peculiar Institution. and
Fletcher's Studies of Slavery, the stereotype
plates of which were sold to pay the cost of
publications 70 these might be added, /" The
Hireling and The Stare" published at Charles
ton, South Carolina, by T. Russell. the first
elaborate. Poem. we believe, ever. written in
praise of Slavery, as .i.ua;. l...al,.,1 ut
A word, in passing, of this marvel of Poetry,
which has lately been introduced TO the Lite
rary World by the National hatelligencer. The
editors are in love with tit presents so fasci.
mating picture of the work and wealIo the
| slave, whose condition is pronounced infinitely
more blessed than that of the Northern hireling..
| They say the author has " drunk deeply from
the priest fountain of inspiration 1.-THE poem
is living representation of things as they
are, not as they portrayed blythe pencil Of
fanaticism never was :. the golden cad nce
of poetry more beautifully marked or more
| sweetly illustrated the !" melliHuous ease and
elegance" of its " rhyme Z attracts, while, the,
logical soundness 7 of its "reason" coHyin-
cesr-from personal knowledge they" know that
| the author has drawn none of. its materials from
| imagination ,--fnally they applaud the author
for having gone back to the days of Dryden
and Pope for the model of his poem;. they
evidently. think that /" Tile. ,Hreling and the
SlareH Is, at least equal to the immortal 4 E3say
on Man," and they do not hesitate to compare
it with The Deserted Village According TO
the htelligencer, "the argument of the first part
is to show, that the state of the hireing and the
slave is substantially the same; that is, that
both are compelled to labor and that both re-
ceiye the same reward fop that labor-.-namtely,
subsistence; but, there is this important di fer
ence between the two classes--the hireling is
not always able TO procure the labor be seeks,
nor to obtain the reward which should follow
it, whereas the slave never lacks subsistence
whether he be in condition to toll for it or
not SO far then, his lot is superior to that of
the hireling, and this superiority is the copse:
quence of his condition as slave" That is
the argument and one which the grave edi Tors !
of the National Iatelligencer think fully sustain
ed by "the melliauous ease and elegance I of
its rhyme" and the illogical soundness'' of
its reason j
We congratulate them upon the progress of
civilization in this country, and especially in
the South. This wonderful Poem heralds
brighter day for The domestic institutions of the
Slave States, when the loves of Sambo and Dinah
shall be rehearsed in Xirgilian Pastorals, and
new series of Bucolics, reciting the mysteries
of the canebrake and cotton-feld, with Occa-
sional pathetic episodes on the beatitudes of the
auction block, the lash, thumb-screw, and blood
hound shall take the place in Southern Col
leges Of the old, WORKOUT classics.
Our purpose was not to enlarge upon the
Literature of Slavery, but to suggest to Mr..
Fitzhugh to add to the next edition of his I'M
examped work, a few chapters, showing the
influence of Slavery in elevating and human
izing the Ruling Class, and inspiring it with
profound regard for the rights of man. and, as
an illustration, We would commend to his no.
tice the following account of the manner in
which it is accustomed to display its high civil
ization. We copy from a slave State paper,
which publishes the following:
from correspondence OF New York Daily Timesl
| AN ABof ITTONIST RODE. ON A RAIL BI.AcKEN.
| SD, AND SENT FROM TOWN ON THE CARS
Greensboro GA, March Is, 1855.
| There was disgraceful mob here on Satur-
day, the 18th. | was attracted by a crowd on
the principal street. On drawing near, saw
a young man of about twenty-five years stand
] ing in the midst of the crowd. They were ask
| ing his name, which it appears he declined Civ
| ing. | inquired of by-Stsnder what the excite
ment was. He informed me the young man
chad declared himself an Abolitionist, and it
not agreeing with the sentiments of the people,
| they had notion to mob him" He was told
to leave the place, but he declined Some ex-
claimed, =" Hang him "Tar and feather him!"
ride him on a rail-" Others, more moderate.
| proposed to send him from town. All were in
favor of his leaving; and those that were the
least excited advised him to leave. He was
asked where he was from; he answered, Mas
sachusetts."
| saw him leave the crowd and 90 to the ho-
tel. Soon he came out and walked past the
| crowd, going iRthe direction of the depot. The
leader of the mob, who, / was told, was the sher-
III, swore he should not leave the town. and
went in chase Of him, followed by several 9th.
ers. Not knowing what they might do, con-
cluded to follow, and, if | could be Of anv SER
vice, to tender it, he appearing to be stranger
here as well as myself. On my way passed some
ladies, students of the Female College. They
inquired what was the matter. | answered,
They say there is an AbolitiOniSt in town 4"
Some exclaimed, Tar and feather him -
tothers, " Ride him on a rail " | passed on.
and found him in front of minister's dwelling.
i AS soon as | arrived, told the leader that /
! wished to speak with him moment He said,
IF it was about that man, he would not hear
it." At this point the man broke, and they after
| him. He jumped a picket fence, and entered a
dwelling house, went up stairs, and hid himself
d in a wardrobe. They searched the house long
time before he was found. / tried to reason
with some, persuading them to give it up and
let him 60. But they were so excited l did not
know but they would lynch me if | said much
more.
went up town, and soon the mob came back,
making all sorts of hideous noises, with their
prisoner on a rail, carried by negroes. The
\, sheriff drew his pistol and would have shot him
if we had not interfered. After getting in town,
they had negro to black the prisoners face
Some said, "put in vinegar and nitric of silver, "
&c. After backing him, he was sold at auction
How much he brought, | can't tell, as did not
hear the bids, but heard them CRYING him of
while was at tea. The mob took him 10 a
drinking-salOon, and had the niggers hugging
and kissing him. He bore it like a martyr
They said they would kill him if he resisted. A
search warrant was procured, TO search his bag
gage, TO see if he had any Abolition documents
! and all that was found any way suspicious were