The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-08-14
FIc1 tic hnor"iHe (7Snm.) Presbyterian WItncss
LETTER FROM DR. ROSS.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala, July II, 1856

~A& AA>As 4&Nonk Oh nOoo
HUNTSVILLE, Ala, July ii, 1856.
Brother ElochJuyn: affirmed, I'm my
New York speech, that the slavery agita.
ton has done, and will accomplish good.
Your very kind and courteous disagree
ment on that point, will make the occa,
sior to say soncthng more thereon with.
out wishing you. my dear friend, TO regard
what write us inviting any discussion.
said Mut agitation has brought out,
and would reveal still more fully, the. Bible
in its relation to slavery and libcrty-also,
the infideity whicl, long has been, and is
now, leavcning, with death, the whole
Northern mind And that it would result
in the triumph Of the truc Southern inter
probation of the Bible; to the honor OF
God, and to the goo.l of the master, the
slave, the stability of the Union, and be a
blessing to the world. TO accomplish this,
the sin per sc doctrine will be utterly de-
molsl,cd. That doctrine is the difficulty,
in everv Northern mind, (where there is
any difficulty about slavery whether they
confess it or not. Yes, the difficulty with
every Northern man is, that, the relation OF
master and slave is felt to Je sin. l know
that to he the fact l have talked with all
grades of Northern men, and come in COLI
tact with all varieties of Northern mind on
this subject. And, know, that the man
who says, and tries to believe, and does,
partially in sober judgment, believe, that
slavery is not sin, yet, IN his fcelings-in
his educated p,rjudices, he feels that slavery
is SIN.
Yes, Mot is the difficulty, and that is the
whole Of the difficulty, Jct'Occn tic North
and McsiSo"M, so far as tho question is
one of the Bible and morals. Now, l
again say, that that sin per sc doctrine will, in
this agitation, hc utterly demolished. And
when that is DONE when the North will
know, and feel, fully, perfectly, that the re-
iation of master and slave is not sin, but
sanctioned of God, then, and not till then,
the North and South can, and will, without
anger, consider the following questions =
whether slavery, as it exists in tho United
States, all things considered, be o, be not,
great good, and the greatest good for
time, notwithstanding its admitted evils
Again: whether these evils can, or cannot
he, modified and removed? Lastly, whetli-
cr sIavey itself can or cannot pass away
from this land, and the world? Now, sir,
the moment the sin question is settled, then
all is peace. For these other questions be-
long entirely to another category of morals.
They belong entirely to tile category Of
what IS wise to realise good. This agitation
will bring this great result. And therefore,
affirm tic agitation TO hc gooi.
There is another fact, also the result, in
great measure, of this agitation, which in
my view proves the agitation to have been,
and to he of great good. L mean the as
tonishing rise, and present stability of the
silsrs~ if;ss%er IF the United. States. This
fact, when examined, Is unideniissbfis:: sAnd'
tits equally undeniable, that it has been:
caused i'll great part, by the slavery agita
tion in all its hearings. 1t is wonderful
development made by God. And I must
believe he intends, thereby, either to de-
stroy or bless this great Union. But rs l
believe lie intends to bless, therefore am
fortified in affirming the good there has
been, and is, in this agitation Let me
bring out 70 view this astonishing fact.
l. Twenty-Five years ago and previously,
the whoie siavri,oieing South anu West
had strong tendency to emancipation, in
some form. But the abolition agitation
then began, and arrested that Southern and
Western leaning to emancipation. Many
people have said, and do say, that that ar
rest was, and is, great evil say it was,
and is, great good. Why? Answer: 1t
was, and would now he, premature. Had
it been carried out it would have been, and
would now bc, evil, immense. inconceivaLle
to master, slave, America, Africa, and
the world because neither master, slave,
America, Africa. the world were, or are,
ready for emancipation. God has n great
deal to do before hc is ready for emancipa-
ton. lie tells lis so by this arrest put
upon that tendency to emancipation years
ago. For he put into the hearts of aboli-
tionists to nankc Tie arrest. And he stopt
the Southern movement, all the more per-
fectly, by permitting Great Britain to
emancipate jamaica, and letting that ex-
pertinent prove, as it has, a perfect failure,
and n terrible warning. JAMAICA IS
OESTROIED. And now, whatever be
done for its negroes. must be done with
the full admission that what has been at
tempted was in violation of the duty Bri-
tain owed to those negroes. But her fail
ure in seeing and doing her duty, God has
given to lis to teach lis knowledge; and
through us, to instruct the world, in the
demonstration Of the problem of slavery.
2. God put it into the heads of North
ern mcn-especially abolitionists-to give
Texas to the South. Texas-a territory so
vast that a bird, rs Webster said, can't ly
over it in week. Many in the South did
not want Texas. But many longer-headcd
ones did want it. And Northern men
voted, and gave to the South, exactly, what
these longerheade'l Southern statesmen
wanted: This, grant, was Northern anti
slavery fatuity, utterly unaccountabe, but
that God made them do it.
8. God put it into the hearts of North
ern men-and especially adoltionists-to
vote for Polk, Dallas. and Texas. This
gave us tho Mexican War; and that i'm
.'mense territory, its spoil. Atcrritory which,
although itmay not be favorable for slave
labor, has increased, and will, in many
ways, extend the slave power.
>. f. This leads me to saw that God mt Il