The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1859-11-02

,the temporal objects of this Efe, regulates the
social state of men, and, therefore, when It is
used and employed by men in that social
| state, the public welfare is promoted-the
public peace secured. Hence the object and
design Of property is to advance the general
welfare.
Let me state this proposition differently.
The philosophy of the social state-thc right
or the right rules Of conduct, with respect ia
the objects of desire, in this world,-or the
higher law, if you please, that regulates the
social state,-have for their object and design
to promote the peace and concord of the social
state-promote 1t with respect to the things
in this life, that are, as have said, the objects
of the human desires. We all want the things
of this world that contribute to the gratifca-
ton Of the several senses, and we all want
them to the exclusion Of the other legatees
Now the proper, or the property that regu-
| lates US under these circumstances, is the
| right to which we all should submit. This
being so, then, there is a property or right
| in respect to every created thing that tends
to excite the cupidity of men-that tends to
the qualification of the senses If now you
will pontou to me any object that does not
excite human cupidity-that does not tend to
the qualification Of any of the animal senses,
| Will then show you something with respect
to which we have no property, The trope in
speech thatjustifes US in calling the things of
this life our property, is, as | have said,
metonymy, and means tie use and employ
ment Of one word for another Hence when
l call my horse my property, l mean my
right to him. This figure of speech is in very
common use. Webster gives several exam-
Piles Eft. School boys say, they read Virgil.
Not 50, for Virgil has been dead many years
They mean, the writings of Virgil. They
employ a trope, as we do, when we call our
negroes property. 50 also the expressions
a man keeps good table-they have Moses
and the prophets-the man has clear head
my house is my castlc--my children are my
jcwels--are examples in point. St. Paul in the
Scriptures, has noted example Of this trope
when he says that faith is the substance OF
things hoped for" meaning that faith repre-
! sents or produces the things desired. But
men who write against the institution Of
slavery wholly forget the use of this form Of
human speech and instead 81 r---1-I.sts-
perty as the right we have to the objects in
this life that excite the animal desires of our
nature, they assume most gratiousLy that pro-
perty means, not persons, but things, as
though persons could not excite animal pas
! sion as well as things, and, therefore, that
there was no use or necessity Of higher law
regulating our property-regulating between
men in respect to them-and marking out the
right and the proper with respect to persons
Paley's ideas with respect to property, are
quite to the point. He says: 1t is the in
tention Of God that the produce of the earth
be applied to the use of men-this intention
cannot be fulfilled without establishing pro-
perty it is consistent, therefore, with His
will that property be established "-Page 81.
This only means that property is merely in
consistency with the will and intentions of
God. Now the philosophy of the social state
is the will Of God or is the higher law, and
hence property, with respect to all objects of
desire means nothing more than what God
wishes His creatures to do, when a contest
arises about the objects of animal desire,-and
hence as negroes are the objects of the human
cupidity, property in negroes is the will of
God with respect to them, or in other words
is the ethical institution of slavery-is the
rules established by Christ for the govern
ment Of msaters and slaves while in that
temporal relation to each other.
In further confirmation of this view, Paley
says, at page 68, Because moral obligation
depends, as we have seen, upon the will of
God; right, which is correlative to it. must
depend upon the same. Right, therefore,
signifies consistency Nth the Of God."
The right we have to negroes, or the pro-
perty we have in them, Or what is proper in
the relation OF master and slave, is the re-
vealed will of God, in respect to the relation
between the. descendants Of Japeth and Ham.
The discovery of this will was made and re-
vealed by Christ in the Scriptures, and hence
the Scripture constitutes our bond, or our title
deeds to our negroes. Hence slaves are both
persons and property.
With regard to the philosophy of Dr. Whe-
well, that slavery converts person into a
thing-"a subject merely passive, without
any Of the recognized attributes of human
nature" have to say that the subsection
of slave to a master is not more complete,
in principle, than is the subsection of the wife
and children to the authority of the husband
and the father, as taught in the Scripture.
Eph. 5: %; Col. 8: IS; Pet 8 l. Sla-
very enjoins on the slave, full and unreserved
subsection, in every conceivable respect, to the
Of the master, but under the legis-
lation Of Christ the master is morally respon-
sble for the exercise of his authority. As
between Christ, therefore, and the master, the
master has no authority to direct his slave to |
submit to any order repugnant to the teach.
ings of Christ, but is morally required to deal |
Justly towards him--to act as a master should |
lct--to act wisely and humanely-to consult
the happiness and well being of rs Save while
ne occupies that relation
The master is, therefore, directly response
Die to God for the method oil his government
,ut let the method of his government he what
t may, Christ requires of the servant implicit
,belieace, and when he says that this obedi-
nee must be rendered to the froward as we'll
$ to the good, he means that the slave must
hey orders, ho,oeuer repagnaHt to morality, He
oes not teach that the slave must only obey
God masters-those whose orders are in har-
nony with the right rules Of government, but
lso bad ones--those whose orders are repug-
ant to moral government. He does this
nanifestly because he does not contemplate to
old the SlaUe responsible for his acts
\ obedience to masters, whose orders or
those government is in hostility to the prin-
iples of morality Hence in the institution
f slavery, the slave is only responsible to God
Or his acts that are free upon his part-fee
rom the authority of his master. Hence his
aoral agency is circumscribed. It's less than
hat of his master. In other words, Christ :
oouires more Of a master than he does of