New-York daily tribune., 1858-11-05

/ "
allowed to the infrmites Of human nature and
something TO the mvineible effect Of habit upon
practicing lawyer-not without 9 Aight smile Of
contempt in one corner at least Of his mouth, for
the poor, mpersttious ,gnoramHses whose con-
sciences are thus to be quieted or their understand
| ings to be satisfied. Zone of the inmates Of the
ark" be tells us, became a servant Of servants,
and, in the opinion Of many, the curse of Ham is
now being executed upon dis descendan,s, in the
enslayement Of the negro race But whether in
the ease Of the negro this condition is the curse
On Canaan, the son Of Ham, ss many Yelgiously
believe and plausiby argne," our author modestly
excuses himself from deciding as net within lis
province, which is rather that Of history and law
than Of theology. He insists, heweyer, that Ne
groes have been slaves from time immemorial. But
then that proves nothing special in their case, -nce
as be himself shows, the laboring whites OF Europe
were also in that condition from time immemorial
TIL within comparatively recent period, and in
Russia still are SO. But then be insists that Tie
negroes sre stupid lazy and, if left 10 themselves,
E. for nothing but vagabonds This however, is
precisely the character which, as be himself shows,
the Creeks and Romans gave Of their slaves. and
the eudal proprietors in the middle ages Of their
serfs. The Roman slaves imported from Britain
were set down az particularly stupid, and Wales, in
the middle ages was reckoned IN Germany-as
Africa is now thought of in Georgia-to have an
| atmosphere fl 10 produce slaves only. The very
word slave implies the idea prevalent in Europe in
the fourteenth century, that the whole scavonc race
was 6t for nothing but 10 make slaves Of; and Mr..
Cobb himself would seem 70 entertain that opinion,
at least so far the great mass OF the Russanpopu-
latisn is concerned. Thus be tells US of the Rus
sian serfs that THAT they are indcent constitu-
| tionolly and indulge il at the masters expense.
| They are mendacious beyond the negro, perhaps,
| and feel no shame at detection. Like them too,
they have no providence for the future, and no
anxiety about If. They filthy in their persons,
and in their rude huts exhibiting in all their hand
works the ignorance OF savage and the stupidity
| of dolt" As to the efforts Of the reigning En-
peror at emancipation, be 10 think no better
of them than he does Of the schemes OF our Amer.
| lean abolitonists. Without radical change in
tie Constitution of the State Offering greater in
ducements for effort on the part Of the people, aud
perhaps, also, change still more difficult to pro-
duce that Of the characte. Of tie serf himself, no
bright hopes need be cherished Of any material
Improvement in the condition Of Russian Slavery"
lie forgets that the serfs of Eastern Europe, when
| 6rst emancipated, were IN no way superior TO the
present serfs of Russia; also ;ha. the hrst and
generally indispensable step toward changing the
| character of an individual a class is to change
the position they occupy and the relations in which
they stand TO cthers--a remark not less applicable
| TO Georgian slaves than 10 Russian serfs.
Our author has much to say, M planters gener-
ally have, about the " negro character" az though
| there we're some remarkable twist about it, or
kink in IT, invisible and unknown TO everybody but
slayeholders which incapacitates the negroes for
| freedom. Yet nobody at all familiar with our own
| Slave laws, and with the way things 60 on in
slaveholding family, or on 8 plantation, can read
our authors interesting sketch Of Slavery as It
existed in Greece and Rome, without being struck
with the very close resemblance between white
Slavery in those days and black Slavery nova
resemblance tending very strongly 70 prove that
what our author and others speak Of as negro char
acter is nothing, after all but human character, as
developed by slavery; just as go many British
travellers have described, with strong disgust, as
American peculiarIties, just what they might have
teen every day Of their lives by casting ar eye on
their neighbors or by turning one N on themselves.
| But the grand reliance Of our author, TO mako
ont his case against the negroes appears TO DC the
total failure as he chooses to express IT, OF The ex-
periments hitherto made in negro emancipation
and civilization. First comes the of Hsyti, of
the war of independence in which island lie gives
| much better account than is commonly 10 be met
with, chiefly drawn from Scbcelchers work, and
one which does not seem TO establish any particular
inferlori:y on the part Of the negroes. That
| population which, seventy years age, consisted
| mainly Of sayages imported from Africa and held
in state of the most oppressive slavery, and which
! for twenty years a.terward was engaged and more
than half of il used up in constant and desperate
| struggles, fret with their former masters, next
with the English and then with Bonaparte, all Of
whom sought 10 succession 70 reduce them again
| TO that Slavery from which the French National
| Convention osd set them free, and who lave had
still iarther 10 contend against the military des-
potsm and the lust Of military leaders for power
by which such protracted war was but 700 certain
20 be folowed-that such people with such an
experience, does not rival in industry and rspidity
of development ourselves and other nber:tors Of
hereditary civilization, is not 50 very Astonishing.
Even in bis own Georgia, there is, le. US remind
NJ. COBB, considerable part OF the Tree white
population-Ihose known oy the name Of Georgia
crackers-xith whom, the rural population of
| Hayti might well stand q compari son, whether