Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-07-10
P % l. I Ir ! G a l. !.
From the Now York Times.
Bancroft on Slavery.

Ia
eagerly awaited by the literary world.-l
With several OF its articles, we venture
10 predict, the admirers Of the historian
will be grevous!y disappointed. Yet
there is in the volume one essay worth,
in our view, all the rest, which no his.
tofical scholar and no man interested in
The morals Of politics can read without
the profoundest interest. We refer to
the article which depicts the influence Of
Slavery in undermining the Roman En-.
pire. To those who have sometimes,
perhaps unreasonsbly, doubted Of Mr..
Bancrolt's sense Of the evil Of chat,el.
slavery 10 our own political progress,
and who have feared for his boldness ia
expressing his convictions, we commend
these hapters. They are clear, down.
right and explicit; and gathering to.
gether the best Of modern investigations
in Roman history, those Of Niebuhr and
Arnold, they have presented what, so far
as we know, no other narratives have
done, a boldly drawn, consistent sketch
of Roman Slavery and its consequences.
Mr.. Bancroft has not drawn the parallel,
but it is patent on every page. One feels,
with some mitigating exceptions. that he
is reading the history and the doom Of
American Slavery. He shows US in the
time ofthe Gracchi, the "lanl reformers"
in Italy, the Roman Republic upheld by
three classes,-the opulent aristocracy Il
the slave holders the poor free iaborers
and the slaves.
"Phlanthropy," says Mr.. B. "when
it contemplates a slaveholdng com.
munily, may have its first sympathies ex.
cited for the slaves; but it is a narrow
benevoence which stops there. The
needy free man is In worse condition"
The attempts of the reformers TO i'm.
prove the condition Of the free laborers
failed; they became more degraded than
before the State became divided be-
tween masters and slaves ; bondage con-
lnued 10 weigh more severely on the
slaves, mostly Of foreign birth, until at
length under the guidance Of leader,
who appealed to their religious supersti
tions as we'll as TO their love Of liberty,
they burst forth into fearful revolution.
The Roman State was shaken to its
base and her most frighlful atrocities,
, which history records were committed.
"The outrages," Mr.. B. we'll remarks,
; (which men commit when they first re.
, gain their freedom, furnish the strongest
argument against the condition which
can render human nature capable ol
, such crimes" These and the succeeding
I outbreaks were put down, for the week
and enslaved foreigner was pitted agains
the even yet vigorous and warlike Ro
( man. /, was s'then the Italian, as no0
Il the glo.Saxon "destiny," Q. e.erywhert
e govern the week. But the weak and th'
If oppressed had terrible revenge; o.
rather the laws of the moral world work
I. ed out 10 their natural result. SLAYER.
:. threw the power and lands Of the Stat
"a into the hands Of few; it crushed tn
J.. free middling class it introduced luxur
,r and idleness, and so saPped the enefsle
e Of the governing classes it diminishe'
N the relative numbers Of the slave.owner
i and the aristocracy-for, in the word
Of of the essay, "Slavery tends TO diminis
ID the frequency Of marriage among mas
,e ters. In State where emanci patton
f, forbidden, the slave population will pei
ID petually gain in relative numbers"
i. At the time Of Cesar, the "peculia
in institution" Of Rome had come to hav
h. full sway. The slaves numbered SON
d. three times both the masters and fre
at laborers. The slave trade extended
r.. every sea, and commerce and wars kel
re- the markets full. The code Of SLAYER
ut was somewhat like that Of our Southel
y. States, except that in Rome the sla'
could be instructed and genius or a.
oh complishment were valued at the marke
Id as now are piety and muscles al Il
he block in New Orleans. There was I
is efficient protection to the chastity Of
as Roman slave.Sirl /; the family relatio
ir. were never protected, and no slave
testimony could be received, except u
we on the rack. On the remote plantatio
ei. they were completely at the mercy
hy their masters, and probably cruelt
- were committed commonly. Of viii
nd our Southern States only see occasion
es, instances. Slaves filled all the II
ne. chanics, places, and even became I
ee. instructors and men Of science Of I
a State. The prices varied much, as tn
ar. would now if slaves were through
sad trained. A common laborer was wo
, of from SIS to $1O0: play actor $500
hly grammaran $4,000; beautiful {
ion tress even as much as $4,000 |
Ter. annum, and physician was legally va
,.in ed at $2,400.
out Slavery prepared tho way for the {
ted ther debasement Of Rome, by introd
en-. ing an extravagant luxury, and eve
Dr.. where degraded public morals by viol
nan ing the sanctity Of marriage. Chas'
and among the young men Of the up
han classes became almost unknown. W
en-. the chattel bondage terrible vices Z
,der terrible diseases sci in over the VIII
ave Of society. At length despotism {
ing, submission to foreign authority was
un. natural course 10 society 80 rotten
nee. diseased /; for, as our historian wis
end. observes, "DsspotisIn. in the regular
who der Of Providence, is the punishmer
ever nation for the institution Of Slave
Cal. The land Of Italy, as begins no,
un. be seen in Virginia and others Of