Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-07-16

tuality, a something given and taken Oh Doth
sides,-a quid pro quo. How different is all
this from the condition of the slave. In his
case it is not his labor that is owned by an
other, but his very body, bones, muscles and
brain; the entire living, reasoning, response
BILE human being; all his hopes and affections,
all his actions, yes, even the very children by
whom God has intended to continue him in
the world And what is the consideration
None. What have he or his ancestors receiv-
| ed for this portentous transfer of everything
| that constitutes the man? Nothing The
brutes' fare the necessary food to keep the
brutalized machine in action; these are the
recompense the slave receives.
But the defenders of slavery fall back upon
third position. Failing to show any reason
able way in which the institution could have
originated, they seek to sustain it by proving
that its existence was recognised and sanction
ed by the Bible If men, surveying the fair,
plain face of nature, deduce oftentimes such
wild and opposite conclusions, is it to be Won
dered at that even the prevented voice of Rev.
| elation has been made to subserve the purpo-
ses of error. Religionists themselves do not
| seem to always draw the proper distinction
between the spirit infused throughout the BIZ
| BILE and the manners and customs of the peo-
pie whose history it relates between the voice
of God and the errors and crimes which made
that voice necessary; between vast illimita-
BILE religion, reaching to the spehres and dicta-
| ted by the Omnpotent, and the frailties and
weaknesses of sinful fragment of the hui
man race upon whom the light of that reli-
gion fell. Hence when God speaks We should
| listen; but when the Hebrew walks astray
we should not follow. If the sanction i'm
piled by the customs of the Jewish people
serves to justify slavery, it must also cast its
protection over polygamy, concubinage, and
other practices which christianity has long
since abandoned We cannot take the one
without the other; we must follow the argu-
ment into all it's conclusions.
But from none of these causes does slavery
in the United States spring. The American
slaves are neither the spoil of the conqueror,
nor the result of religious fanaticism. The
widest, rudest, deepest, barbarism of the most
benighted region on the worlds surface sent
them forth. Ignorance and oppression were
their parents, and to these came tributary the
enlightened people of Europe. Civilization
and the Gospel paid court to barbarism and
outrage; truth carried away tie spoils of
error
TO us the institution does not appear in its
most repulsive shape, inasmuch' as the slaves
are members of widely different and per-
haps inferior race A strong line is drawn
between ourselves and the sufferers and the
very distinctions Of nature are used as argu-
mcnts to sustain the injustice of society
But how corrupt must be the reasoning facul-
ties of the man who would argue, that because,
in the infinite variety of his works, God has
made one race stronger than another, there
fore the weaker should become the property
of the stronger. Let him remember that this
argument, that might makes right, extends to
individuals as well as to races; that its
logic has no stopping place. Let him there
fore look around the community and Sc
lect some man, his physical or intellectual su-
perior, to whose tender mercies he will will
lingly resign himself.
But this line of argument is not necessary
to any properly constituted mind. How natu-
rally does it follow, that what we claim for our
selves and prize as high as life itself, personal
liberty, we should not deny to another. This
principle not only underlies the whole consti-
tuition of human justice, but is the corner
stone of the sublime philosophy of him who
said, "And whatsoever We would that men
would do unto you, do We even so unto them. "
All we have of vital civilization is founded
on this principle; and as we survey the slow
march Of mans progress in the past, we finG
him age by age advancing nearer to the per.
lection of this doctrine
Let US glance backward at some salient
points in the History of Slavery.
Once Slavery was universally recognized
without regard to race or color. Among the
: Hebrews their own people were ensIaved-
The Greek Helots were of as pure white blood
as their masters. "The hero of Macedon, ,
says BANCROFT, "sold men of his own kin
} dred and language into hopeless slavery.
generated. ARISTOTLE hae written that al
mankind were brethren, but the thought o
r equal enffanchisement had never presented
S itself to his sagacious understanding"
D Among the Romans slaves were of a
i pure Roman blood as their owners. In late
: years the slaves of the different European
# States were of European origin. In fact tn
}, causes of slavery among the different ancien
e States will show how directly it drew its vic
h tins from the body of the people.
S Among the Hebrews, as we learn from tn
r Old Testament, slavery was permitted to arts
= from various causes. As when man sol
n himself into slavery to avoid poverty, (25 LIE,
S 39) when father sold his children, (21 EA
If - or when creditors sold their debtors or tn
e children of their debtors, @ Kings A.
re Among the Greeks similar laws were
force, and to such an extent was the evil cal
e ried,that while Athens containsed but 81 90
n freemen, this limited number held in subje,
ton 100000 slaves. threading the folowin
l. description of the condition of the Gree
1t slaves, it must be recollected that they wei
lg of the same race and blood with Aristotl
he Plato and Socrates, and of the same soci
at class with Ksop:
in "Slaves were often seen in Greece chaine
to the doors of the wealthy as we, now-a-day
ot see mastiffs. The Greek slaves had no name
': no titles; were incapable of being injured
Il could not plead or be pleaded for in court
ng law had no claim to the rights of matrimon
of and no remedy against adultery; and, cou