New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-06-10


NICE 90 common at the South, the ladies' dance, dirt
ard converse, TO sll appearance wholly unconscious
Of the naked and filthy condition Of the crowd
Of negro children Of both sexes from two to twelve,
some clothed in rag of shirt of no particular
color-at all events not white, but large part
baked as they were born, which forms the exterior
rirg, The setting as it were Of the arstOcratical
party collected within. And just 30 this writer and
other Southern advocates and admirers Of democrat
zeal institutions speak of the American spirit
Of equality and impotence Of despotsm, apparently
perfectly unconscious that there exists in the
country single master, slave or dOughface. In the
same state Of unconsciousness, The Enquirer pro-
ceeds as follows:
1T j. true there are absolute empires cursed with
despotic tyranny still in existence; and there are
people ignorant Of the AT Of printing or the uses OF
gunpowder. But, in a number OF those countries,
which still retain all the semblances and munlments OF
monarchy there rs SPIRIT # liberty dl're and eertiHg
snci an rfrcnce n The GOrernreRt as 10 render 1t
much noie republican than either usage or its own
genius would Justify And a. liberty eularges IN lat
tude, must the political system under which II eX-
lists be accommodated in for in fact TO its teachings
and practice"
From these premises The Enquirer concludes
that the English colonies, becoming republcanized
in spirit, will one after the other drop off from the
parent stem; and that England, thus stripped of
her colonies will within 6fty years sink into sub
ordinate position.
But if England, by adhering TO mOnarchical inst
tutions, and the "savage subOrdinatiOn' therein
implied "of man to bis fellow man, must expect
to lOse her hold upon the very colonies which she
l.. Il nj +ba tlar St1ta
general y, expect that their fanatcal adherence to
the system Of Slavery, and the savage subOrdlna-
ton Of man to his fellow. man, ana the "seryile
ideas Of inequality" therein implied will fail to for
felt for them the influence which they have hith-
erto exercised over their sister States-an influence
founded solely on a supposed superior devotion on
their part, to individual and collective liberty
ndt pendence ana equalityl'
The same causes and reasons which tend to
spread liberty and equality among the English
ard their coloDsts are ii full operation in Americas
and can Virginia expect to escape their influence
Claims Of superiority, based upon nothing
but ga mere assumption of authority, allie
c;,r,o" resting son ignorance, superstition
:. ,erviIe oso,s Of inequality and "a savage SUBJ
d" ordination Of NM TO bis fellow-man," will no
moro serve 70 su.tsin the ar$tocratica system of
virginia than it will the monarchca syste2 oil Eog
lard And the activt y of the underground railroad,
and the constant migration by means OF it going on
from Virginia to Canada, might lead The enquirer
to perceive that idt as Of individual and collective
Liberty, independence and equality. are by no
al 10 of ri
plexion, but are beginning to spread, not merely
among the working men of England, but among the
working men of Virginia.
In fact, the above extracts are plainly Of very
incendiary character. The South ought TO look to
it. They might have answered we'll enough twenty
FIVE years ago, when The Enquirer believed that
the Declaration of Independence was something
more than mere flourish of rhetoric, and when it
zealousy urged upon the people aud Legislature of
Virginia immediate measures for the abolition OF
Slavery But all such suggestions are wholly out OF
keeping with the doctrines now held by Tie En-
quiTer. While setting up, as it does the IS savage
GENERALIZATION of man to his fellow man Cen
forced by the cowhide) as the only solid foundation
of republican liberty, while putting forward "ser-
vile ideas Of inequality" aud an assumption OF AL
thorty based on nothing but ignorance and super
stition as constituting the very essence OF Democ-
racy, that journal ought to be little cautious how
il argues tie necessary and speedy downfall and
decay Of all governments and states resting upon
such foundations. Taking The Enquirers doc
trine. for true, they convey a teaching much more
significant and much more threatening to Virginia
than 70 Great Britain.