Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1857-10-01

| dered to serve his master, ana In go dolng ne
serves God? All this is consistent with the
law of God, which ordained slavery before
Christ came, who came not to abrogate, but
to fulfil the law.
In the next place, are the buyers and hold
ers of slaves philanthropists? 1t. is only q
false philanthropy which frowns on African
slavery, disregarding Holy Writ, and in the
impotent folly of human wisdom, seeking a
higher law than what has been given by Om'
niscience. Abolitionism in this country is
the offspring of that mistaken philosophy
which was taught by the poets, orators and
moralists of Europe about the time of our
Revolution, and of the fanatic genius of uni.
versal equality which foreran and rode on
the storm the French Revolution. Some,
however of the wisest and best theologians
of Europe have vindicated and approved Of
the African slave trade, and among these
was the Rev. John Newton. The impress
of erroneous sentiments found its way. about
that time, to America and Thomas Jefferson
and others wrote against slavery, as contrary
to humanity and political equality. However
great Jefferson was as politician, we should
not learn our morals from one who, like
Paine, Noltaire and Hume, rejected Jesus
Christ aud denied his divinity. The an
uouncement by Jefferson, in the Declaration
of Independence, that call men are created
equal" is most egregious fallacy, which
has been exploded by modern thinkers,
and especially with signal ability by ourlate
distinguished statesman John G. Calhoun.
The human race is no more entitled to equali-
ty of civil liberty than to equality in proper
ty, to equality in physical strength, or to e.
equality in personal beauty. Civil liberty
has its degrees, and to suppose that all men
are entitled to share an equal portion Of it,
is refuted by the fact that all men are not
fitted by nature and education for taking and
bearing it, equally. Civilized communities
and governments, such as we of the United
States are, may take and bear high degree
of liberty; but the ignorance, mental inca
pacity and barbarism of the African unfit
him for thatlarge degree of liberty, disquali-
fy him for selfgovernment, and make him,
only to some extent, free and happy under,a
civilized master, who is to exercise over him
an absolute despotic but humane government
Every attempt by the African at selfgovern-
ment has failed, or sunk him lower in the
scale of liberty, and subjected him more and
more to the bondage of corrupt nature, of
lawless passion, of superstition and penury.
Hayti and St. Domingo illustrate this; and
our own free colored population prove that
they are not fitted for enjoying free govern
ment. God has so ordained it; and although
they may be Christianized, by contact with,
and under the control of, the descendants of
Shem and Japheth, yeti venture to prophe-
sy that they never will attain that elevation
of mental culture which will enable them to
set up for themselves an independent, free
government Maturo fnrit prona. If we
consider the miserable condition of the Afri-
can in Western Africa, his slavery there, his
idolatry, barbarism, cannibalism and utter
depravity, and turn to look at his happy con.
dition under his master here, who will not
at once decide that the Northern people,
who are planning and desiring to set free
and send back our negroes to Africa, are
false philanthropists and that We are the
true philanthropists, who are not only ma
king our slaves happy here, but are aiming
to purchase and rescue more, from miser-
able bondage in Africa, by trausplanting them
hither into an improved state of servtude? 1?
African slavery is divine decree.
1t will be useful, in this discussion but Gu.
rious and mournful, to take a rapid view ofthe
government and some of the customs which
prevail in Western Africa; whereby we shall
be able to learn owimportant it is to the ma
tive African to be brought hitherin to contact
with American civilization. The whole of
Western Africa is divided into small king
doms, governed by kings who rule over their
people with the unrestrained authority of mas
tiers, exercising the most cruel and unmtiga-
ted despotims. Polygamy isuniversal with all
classes, and the wife is the slave of her dusky
lord, who has as many wives as he can buy !;
his respectability being great in proportion to
their number. The parent is allowed to sell
his offspring into slavery; and the price of a
wife is generally some trihe-a few trinkets,
few yards of cotton cloth, bottle of whis-
key, or cow. The rich buy all the wo-
men, and the poor young men are left to sigh
and burn in despair with hopeless passion, or
resort to articles for stolen and unlawful graf
i6cation, which generally is connived at by
the husband when known, because his chill
dren, being slaves, increase his wealth and
power; and with large number of wives,
he gladly subsidies the vigor or wipks at the
amorous intrigues of love-lorn poverty. Thus
the land becomes broadcast with shameless
adultery. I speak from knowledge derived
from missionaries who have been among
them for years, and who have found it utter
ly impossible to exterminate this system Of
abominations. There arc, however, laws in
Africa against coujugal infdelity, which
sometimes are enforced They have Gu
rious institution in Seuegambia, called Num-
30 Jumbo, by which an erring wife, or one
who has in some way offended her husband,
is punished and disgraced. In recent pub
lication, entitled 20 Western Africa" book
written by Rev. Leighton Wilson, distin.
guished Presbyterian missionary, native