Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-10-22
AntLSlayery in the South.

Mr.. Fl. R. Helper, the author of the Sim
pending Crisis in the South" has addressed
to The Anti Slavery Standard letter, in
which he gives number of instances of the
gradual spread Of Anti-Slavery views, even in
the very home Of the "peculiar institution
Among them he cites the case of Methodist
clergyman, native of North Carolina, who,
after thirty.fye years residence in the West
has returned to that State, and is now boldly
preaching Anti-Slavery in the pulpit. This
clergyman says that, though various threats
of mob violence have been made against him,
he has as yet sustained no personal injury
This, he thinks, is partially owing to the int1u-
ence of his relatives in the vicinity and to his
Southern birth.
A resident of Botetourt County, Virginia,
makes the following strong remarks:
In Virginia, such is our loyalty to Slave
ry that If an ultra Aboltionist, who contends
for amalgamation, were to come among us and
advocate his theory, he would certainly, to say
the least get a coat of tar and feathers but,
when we look at the face of society, it is de-
monstrable, beyond the possibility of doubt,
that we have practical amalgamatonsts by
the score. In some of our towns and villages,
more than half the colored population are of
mixed blood and such is the state of things,
to greater or less extent, throughout the en-
tire South, as far as have travelled Thus,
in this respect, truth compels me to make the
humiliatlng concession that Virginia practice
is worse than Massachusetts, theory
"YOu see, then, how we are cursed with
an illegitim tie, adulterous population-the off
spring of free men-born in Slavery, from
whom the privileges of education and legal
| matrimony are withheld. Thou
sands of the slaves of this State are of mix
| ed race, the sons and daughters of white ia
theirs. * TO remedy the sad con-
sequences of this leprous sore upon the body
polite, the exertions of the wise and good
should at once be called forth.
"ln material point of yiey, we are also
most disadvantageously affected by African
Slavery. In proof of this, we need only look
at the ideness of large portion of our white
population, the cheerless condition of our was
t lands, the very low price of real estate,
the unimpOrtance of our commerce, and our
absolute dependence o. the North for manu-
featured fabrics.''
In the State University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, all the students are taught that
Slavery is of Divine origin, and that It is their
duty as citizens, Christians and patriots to
defend it. Yet even in that State, Mr.. Help
er's " Impending Crisis" has been extensively
circulated, and with good results.
1t is in Virginia particularly that the move
ment is beginning to be felt A citizen of
Richmond, Va, writes to Mr., Helper as fol-
lows:
sit is to Slavery alone that Virginia owes
the sad misfortune of having within her bor-
ders more grown men and women who cannot
read than any other State in the Union. East
ern Virginia, where most of our uneducated
people live, is by having half million of slaves.
so sparsely populated by whites that but few
can attend school, unless parents can afford
to keep horse for the sole purpose of taking
their children to and from the school house
This is the chief impeachment, but there is an
other. The good land in Eastern Virginia
in fact, all the land bordering on the rivers
is in possession of the shareholders, while the
great mass of the white population, the non
shareholders, live on lands that give but mea-
gre returns for the labor bestowed upon them.
You are aware of the beautiful rivers that flow
through our section Of the State from the
mountains to the Chesapeake and of the mag
nificent hafbors which indent our sea-coast;
and yet, Sir, it is but truth to say, that these
wear the almost desolate appearance that they
did in the day when the Creator FIRST babe
them ebb and fow."