The Kansas herald of freedom., 1857-06-13

tions. If a man has no natural rights.
then, as consequence, he has no claims
on another. If the Shareholder is not un-
der obligation to treat his slave as a
neighbor, it is because there is no natural
relation Of man to man evolving the law
of human neighborly obligation.
The man who holds property in man,
and believes that he has right thus to
do, must believe that the man thus held
has not those natural rights which form
the anteeedent clements of neighbcrship
obligation. And the slave thus held, if
he recognizes the claim of the master
must also disbelieve the great fnndamen-
tai truth that man has natural rights re-
sulting from the individuality of his ex-
! istence.
Thus, my friends, you see that slavery
not only oyerthrows the moral basis of
I the stakeholder, but it introduces dark
ness and confusion into the moral system
/ of the slave. Can man who feels that
he has no rights himself, be very careful
of the rights of Others. The circumstan-
ces which surround the slave impercepti-
| bly, teach him to steal. But the evil is
not confined to the slave: it obscures the
whole moral system of the white man.
The Law of neighborshipis is set aside, and,
as a consequence, our moral system is left
to the uncertainties of changing customs
| and notions. If the law of neighborship
evolves all our notions of right, of Justice,
of human obligation, SO far as it tappertains
to man, how is it possible for us TO set it
aside, and not introduce darkness and
confusion into our moral ideas? Can the
system which so easily suTenders up the
rights of the black man, place high esti-
mate on the rights of the white
The institution is not permitted to ex-
ert its full power on the morals of a people.
If it was, the great fundamental idea of
| Democratic Governments would soon be
overwhelmed with foreign interference, in
sweeping down the purity of the ballot
box. But Gospel truth, the habits of the
age, and the progress of human society,
all unite to modify the power of slavery
They modify the power of slavery-they
do not destroy its tendencies.
We charge no stakeholder with guilt
when we assert that the institution is cal
culated to confuse our moral notions, by
overthrowingN the basis to our moral sys-
tenn. With individual guilt we have no.
thing to do-that depends on motives
which are concealed from mortal vision
But while we judge no man, we hold the
system responsible for the confusion and
overthrow Of the moral basis, and for all
those consequences which fall with such
ponderous weight on the moral and poll
teal interests of the people No man can
estimate the loss which a people sustain
by having their moral perceptions confus-
ed Such a people are out on the wide
ocean of uncertainty, and are in constant
danger of stranding on every shore.
Slavery sweeps down the relation which
man sustains to man, and the reflex infiu-
enee recoils with fatal precision on all the
interests of the white man. 1t degrades
the colored man, and he communicates his
l 10 4f,o r.-hsfo 1c Zoo a4
too influential being to be overthrown
and not leave his mark on society around
him. No man can injure his neighbol
without suffering loss himself; and NJ
man can set aside the great moral basis o
human obligation, and not introduce con
fusion into his moral system.
Again, how will slavery, if introduced
into Kansas, affect the education Of tn
people? No evil presses the intelligen
: pioneer with more power than the want o
an efficient school system. Removed from
regularly organized society, and surround
ed with numerous cares, he finds his chill
> dren rapidly becoming men and womel
without that education SO necessary t
their respectability and happiness. Thi
is one of the real evils of pioneer life
Encourage Shareholders owning numbe
: of slaves to fill our settlements, and pun
chase large tracts of land, and what WI
= be the result? Instead of ten or twent
farm houses grouped together, with
> school house in the centre, you viii Sc
y one or two magnificent mansions, erecte
on some eminenee, with few negro hui
/ covering the rear No efficient system {
n. public schools can exist with such stat
'e of things. No question but this is one
IL the principal reasons why free schools d
N not prosper in slave States. Where IL
al land is held in large tracts, the white POI
v ulation are too sparse to admit of compa
lie school districts. And besides. the slav'
IN holder, possessing as he does the means
ze educate his own children, either at hon
ii or abroad, takes but little interest in Il
m education of his poorer neighbor.
le In many districts of the South, slavel
j. has almost entirely defeated the educate
s. of the masses /; and where it has not. it h
he materially retarded education. If v
h. doubt the fact, we may turn to the figure
in The United States census shows tn
ip while Kentucky has seventy-one thousar
he pupils In their public schools, Ohio h
or almost half a million. The same resi-
%. viii appear if you compare Virginia vi
81 New York, or Pennsylvania with Nor
er Carolina. Virginia, one of the best Stat
Ie- in the South, has eighty thousand perso
Its who can neither read nor write, VIII
% Ohio, with double the population, has b
ey sixty-one thousand. and many of Il
Nv number have emigrated from Virgin