Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-04-16
DenOrall,ing influence o. Slavery.

Demoralizing Influence OF Slavery.
Twenty wear. ago. southern men seldom
eontcndsl tha, slavery was, in any respect,
right They would rather excuse them.
sglyc.. as not being responsible for iis intro
duction into ihi. country-at the same time
admitting il 20 DO an evil. and one they
would gladly FIRE themselves from, Il m
their power. Such was the common senti.
ncnt OF shareholders in times past. Bot the
south, within a few years. has changed
front upon this question, anu a maj1riiy Of
s'aysh1llcrs, ant ih1,s under their inau-
cncs. now contend s;uutly. TIA, slavery j.
right, tia, IL 8. justified by The Bible; thh,
10 8. che be-, and bapric-; coalition Of the
A.ran In a word, iha, ii j. the chief
c.rr-- stone. both OF the Church and the
>.. uw .tr'. r'n0ca o. be accounted
tr. u..r. mas tH.rs a Frently. but We
t..g. De- Ha. r..r .-.re a',u; hy the
BLESSINGS t.- -a'.r.r- ,rl .rucrs of slavery
..,. r.. ...,s1u.Irr. Jlcu, Ives \ slave
l.'ir may b. a god uau--a Christina
vbi,ntbropi.i. hat slavery never made him
-. On the other hand. Il he gains this
moral elevation. be will Do IL in spite Of
slavery That great Christian statesman,
John wesley. never saii a iruer thing, than
when De uttered the memorable words, that
".laycry was the sum o. al ullaiuies."
We are not .psakinc q the demoralizins
influence % slavery upon the African race,
bat upon the Anglo Saxon. Jeaerson, in
his writings, portray. the influence Of the
accurs-d system in words that burn, in let
Ter. II living light.
Take that part Of the system, which abrO-
glies the marriage relations among the
blacks. which puts every female slave a;
the mercy Of debasei master. and what
can De- more ieblsin: and c1rruptins to the
morals OF a community The slaveholdipg
portion ~ the south il one great brOihsi
hlts.. and when we consider this. who can
wonder that men and their sons grow up
d,rray-d usier IL influence VOC cannot
,is.tp >.uihern locality, bot what Yea meet
at ,'r,p.t every step living evidences II hu-
man i.rravity among the masters in the
h:.t kin. and American features Of the
st,..
The lrrffi'v AMI r-u-iy exercised toward
T.. SLAVE population, ~ their masters, tends
., blunt the --usi'i'iiy. sear the conscience
AMI harden the heart,
The system !. completely calculated to
destroy al religious suscrp,ibilities. I,
l-,,l. men o. bold in e,niemp, the authority
OF GpI-lt makes men iuGdrls, and scofrrs
a, r,yry thing sopI and yir,uous. Bu, over
an ahrve all, il muk-- men appoints Of
the bases, sort in the sight of their Maker.
Ministers. deaeons. clrss leaders, aud other
church officials q from their knees TO the
auction block and whipping pos'. instead Of
fleeing from these places u the close, TO ask
forgiveness. cor a rank offence against high
Heayen. One moment they mock God with
lip service, the next. deliberately murder a
human Icing by inches. for some imaginary
offence. slavery has such Aarfeaiag, Jru-
ir1sag influence upon the human heart,
that IL makes demons Of men aud transforms
whole commuuitie. into S0doms. It, opcr-
alton upon the Shareholders is such that
with perfect IMMUNITY they will violate
every command in the decalogue, and then
turn round and thank God they are 50 much
better than others. jus, in proportion as
African slavery extends over the country,
ja.t in the same proportion will religion
and morality recede before il. The two
cannot exist together. There is great
moral element involved in the controversy
urE nc'a- .1 'iis country In il impor.
lr.s .l. -Iu.allru-.s, % towers far abvvc
plI..en considerations. slavery not only
ds4sy, p'rsnnal rights, political rights,
aud every right that Is worth preserving
undrra free government. bat 10 blOts out
the sun 10 ths moral heavens, shuts cut the
benign light Of Christianity from the public
gaze, and draws the curtain Of Egyptian
night over the civilization Of the nineteenth
century.