Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1856-11-12

AFRICAN SLAVERY vINDIcATED. =
Extract from the Speech of Hon. a. II Stephens, g,
Geo. delirerea in Me> House Of Representatives.
june %, 1856 s.
Even, however, if slavery be sinful, as they afnrm
their language implies, permit me here to ask Is
not the sin the same whether the slave be held IN
Georgia, Carolina, or in Kansas? ut any more
sinful in one place than in another? But are these
gentlemen correct? Is African slavery, as It exists
in the South either violation of the laws OF nature
the laws of nations. or the laws of God? maintain
that it is not It has been recognised by the laws OF
nations from time immeInorial. The highest court
in this country the Supreme Court OF the enited
States has so decided the laws OF nations TO De-
And where do we get the laws OF nature but IN ma,
lures works about us? Those general rules anu
principles by which all things in nature, according
to their kinds respectively seem to be ana
to which they seem to conform, we call laws; ana
in the handiwork of creation nothing is more strl-
king to the phosophic observer than that order IS
natures first law.
Graduation, too, is stamped upon every thing AMI
mate as well as inanimate-t lndeed, tnere DC any
thing inanimate A SCALE from the lowest degree OF
inferorty to the highest degree OF superiority runs
through all animal life We see it in the insect
tribe we see it in the fishes of the sea- the fowls OF
the air. in the beasts of the earth and we see 1t IN
the races of men. We see the same principle per,
vading the heavenly bodies above us. One star dill
fers from another star in magnitude and lustre-
some are larger others are smaller; but the greater
and superior uniformly influences and controls the
lesser aud inferior within its sphere. If there is any
fixed principle or law of it is this. In the
races of men we find like differences IN capacity ana
development The negro is inferior to the wnlte
man; nature has made him so; observation and
1. ich n
and all attempts to make the inferior equal to the
superior is but an effort to the DEGREES or
Creator, who has made all things as we find them,
according to the counses of his own WILL The Ethi-
opian can no more change his nature or his skin
than the leopard his spots. Do what you Will, ne
gro is negro, and he will remain negro still. In
the social and political system of the South, the ne
gro is assigned to that subordinate position for which
he is fitted by the laws of nature. Our system OF
civilization is founded in strict conformity to these
laws Order and subordination, according to the
natural fitness of things, is the principle upon which
the whole fabric of our southern institutions rest
Then as to the law of God-that law we read not
only in his works about US, around us, and over us,
but in that inspired book wherein he has revealed
his will to man. When differ to the voice OF
nature or the language of God as spoken in natures
works. we go to that great book the book OF books,
which is the fountain of all truth. 10 that book l
now appeal God, in the days of old, made cove
nant with the human family for the redemption OF
fallen man; that covenant is the cornerstone OF the
whole Christian system. Abram, afterwards called
Abraham, was the man with whom that covenant
was made. He was the great first head of an Or
ganized visible church here below. He believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness. He
was in deed and in truth the father of the faithful
Abraham sir, was STAKEHOLDER. Nay, more, he
required to have the 81 of that covenant ad-
minstered to the slaves of his household.
Mr. GaNPREJJ-Pape bring me q Bible,
Mr.. STEPHENs.-I have one here which the gentle
man can consult if he wishes. Here is the passage,
Genesis IT: l3. God said to Abraham:
"l3. He that is born in thy house and he that is
bought with thy money must needs be circumcised;
and my covenant shall be in your flesh for ever
lasting covenant"
Yes, sir, Abraham was not only STAKEHOLDER, but
slave dealer, it seems, for he bought men with his
money; and yet it was with him the covenant was
made by which the world was to be redeemed from
the dominion of sin. And it was into his bosom in
Heaven that the poor man who died at the rich
mans gate was borne by angels, according to the
parable of the In the Goth chapter Of Exodus
the great moral law is found-that law that defines
sin-the ten commandments, written by the finger
of God himself upon tables of stone. In two of
these commandments, the 4th and 10th, verses 10th
and 18th, slavery is expressly recognized, and in
none of them is there any thing against it; this is
the moral law. In Leviticus we have the civil law
vi ILLS SuUcCty as SNeH ny OOu " NhOSeS loT
government of his chosen people in their municipal
affairs. In chapter %, verses A, 49, and 46, read
as follows:
GA. Both thy bondmen and thy bondmads
which thou shalt have shall be of the heather that
are round about you of them ye shall buy BOND
men and bondmaids.
"45. Moreover, of the children of the strangers
that do sojourn among you, Of them we shall buy,
and of their families that are with you which they
begat in your land: and they shall be your posses
sion.
"46. And ye shall take them as an inheritance
for your children after you, to inherit them for
possession; they shall be your bondmen forever;
but over your brethren, the children of Israeli ye
Shall not rule one over another with rigor."
This was the law given to the Jews soon after
they left Egypt for their government when they
should reach the land of promise. They could have
had no slaves then. 1t authorized the introduction
OF slavery amongst them when they should become
established in Canaan. And it is to be noted that
their bondmen and bondmaids, to be bought and
held for possession and an inheritance for their
children after them, to be of the heather round
about them. Over their brethren they were not to
rule with rigor. Our Southern system is in strict
conformity with this injunction. Men of our own
blood and our own race, wherever born or from
whatever cline they come are free and equal We
nave no castles or classes amongst white men-no
upper tendon or 'lower tendom" All are
equals. Our slaves were taken from the heather
tribes-the barbarians of Africa. In our households
they are brought within the pale of the covenant,
under Christian teaching and influence; and more
OF them are partakers of the benefits of the gospel
than ever were rendered so by missionary enter
prise. The wisdom of man is foolishness, the ways
Of Providence are mysterious Nor does the negro
feel any sense of degradation in his condition. lie
Is not degraded. He occupies and fills the same
grade or rank in society and the State that he does
in the scale of being; is his natural place. and
all things fit when natures great first law of order
is conformed to-
Again Job was certainly one of the best men of
whom we read in the Bible. He was large slave.
holder. So, too were Isaac and Jacob, and all the