Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1860-05-23
RICHMOND WHIG.
SENATOR CHESTNUT, THE "HIGHER LAW" AND
"IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT"

/ To the Editor of the Wig:
Senator Chesnuts late speech, in the Senate, consti
tutes marked epoch, bot merely in the history OF the
slavery agitation but in the history OF all moral phoso-
ply He candidy and boldly meets the issues rendered
by Mr.. Seward. lie admits that none but the Higher
Law can be permanent law-tbat all departure from Ma
tuIe in social regulations must ultimately eyenuale 10
disastrous faIure-that society and government are
God.made-the results, not OF human reason, but OF
human necessities and human instlncts-that slave so
ciey is an emanation Of the Higher Law; natural TO
mar; coeva and cOngental with man. lie admits that
there is au "ireprcsble conflict OF ideas between anti
slavery men, (who propose 10 create and organise eocie
ty) and that school OF revived W not philosophy
which, like Aristotle holds that men, like bees and herds
must accept their social organism, their habudes aud
their Institutions, ready made from the hands OF Prov-
dence. He follows in his philosophy Moses, Aristotle,
Solomon and HOrace-and appeals to all history and all
human experience to prove that be Is right; and that
| Plato Sir Thomas Moore, Bacon Locke Jefferson, and
the Red and Black Republicans, who impously propose
do the work Of Providence wrong. lie holds that
domestic slavery natural normal and necessary ele
meut OF Aeaih}i and fg OTyIpi ed sorietg. To stale
the proposition - To prove II for everybody has sui'
ceut knowledge OF history to know that without dOmes
tic slavery large society has existed but IN dscon-
tented, starving volcanic aud revolutionary state Be
sides in their continual attempts at change and reform,
all autiayery men assert the failure far, Of all at
tempts to organize society They have hit upon social
forms vet better than the preScrptye forms OF na-
ture aud God; but each had scheme, better than
Plato LOCkeS AbOe SteYc WHICH NOuu DC sure
TO answer, If men would only Try it.
Senator Chestnut takes the ground that free society
eroag because natural, instructive, and God-madc,
and slave society right because natural, prescrpuve,
instructive and GOdmade
Mr. Stewards higher law Is but repetition Of the
thought OF solomon; The thing which hath been, is
that which shall be- and that which done is that which
shall be done; and there is new thing under the
sun" These words define, with perfect iuness and ac-
curacy the issue made up between Senators Seward aud
Chestnut. The world, the jury, has mere issue oiacs
10 try-aba is the thing ,rlch has Jesa. That which
has Je5p is the Higher Law that Is Truth, and in the
long run must prevail. In the words OF Horace NdtT
si eypsiies tTca ta'"eH "qVe ree'aTeL les, nG-
ture expelled will return. Is nature on Senator Chest
nuts or Senator Sewards side
Had Senator Chestnut confined himself to the position
that slavery natural and therefore ghtiu and necessa
ry his speech would have been the greatest ever made
Yet far ahead Of his age he is there is little of its
pl eudce aud It's dro,s about him. lie must talk Of the
iuierority of the negro race. He must furnish his ad
veTsary with arguments against form of slavery by
showing that it depressed society by Introducing into an
interOrace of human beings lie must Try TO show that
e.rO slavery made committees guardians keepers
f menagcrcs aud Of luuatic and lioc usylums Of the
whites He try to SHOW that negro slavery was in
ispensable TO the negroes and to the North and EarOp'
who nave slave products and We oil the south were
mere overees aud teachers OF the negroes and heWers OF
wood aud water tor the rest Of chrendom The negro
the weak point in our case. Newly imported savage ne
groes certainly depress Dy contact the civilization and
morality OF the whites. But the negro Is daily becom
ing more civilized, nay is already more civilized than
half the free lAbOrers Of Europe Domestic slavery OF
some sort ia essential the orderly and cJntCnted we'll
being OF society We must put up with negroes until
we can do better. Like the Greeks aud Romans, We
value slaves for their stupidity, but TOR their skill
aud deNterity A skiliul artist or mechanic sells for
more than stupid ignorant field hand. We value beau
" of person too in slaves and buy negroes not because
the are homcy, but in despite OF t lis hard 10 de-
ipnd negro SLAVERY, because We have no historical or bl
bcal authority in its favor. But Ii. the easiest thing
in the world to defend trumphanty slavery IN the gene
AL aud in the abstract
Senator Chestnut should have confined himself to this
Inferior minds will after while take up the case OF the
negro show that be is monkey, but fellow man aHd
brother and therefore it Suhec slavery, because
his humanity appeals successfully to the MASTER humanl
ty checks his cruelty and dsarms his angry passions
II the negro b. a sembute then he brutases his mas
ter, and is no fit sutiectiOr slavery.
A savage slave makes scms ayage master. The IN
stuton of slavery will ever be popular or odiou' just
iu proportion TO the popularity or OdiOusness oi the
slaves The world hates negro slavery Tor no other reas
ON than that hates negroes. Ia colonial tunes, ir-
eut had jle good SENSE TO buy temporary white slaves,
tor house servants artists mechanics aud all employ
ments that brought them into immcdute contact and
intercourse With their masters. ~ educating our ne
gr0cs We can make them quite equal 10 those white
| .hyes We mean by giving them moral and religious
instrucou-rot by teaching them 10 read and write.
Until this speech of Mr.. Chestnut, every Southern
man in Congress hJ admitted slavery 20 be wrong in the
General by yildclung slavery hecluse II s negro
slavery and then tried 10 prove that our slavery was
the worst the world saw because the negroes are
at.rr TO auy other race that were eusayei E1-
cent fOr their false premises Southern men would sue
oss-luy demonstrate the wrougulues OF negro slavery.
Ga the other hand We never could md any argument
iu favor OF slavery except ia the writings aud speeches
of soc ass and aboiOnsts. They are all theoretically
yery mon-pr0tcctioBistswh say that free soci
/ CIV has failed ard must be wholly reorgauized
| The South in It's free trade philosophy which grew
olt OF abolition which necessarily as fact so soon
a. the egdI slaves we're emanclpated because men were
then placed ia seemingly equal aud really competitive
aud antagOnistc pOsons-the South teaches the phio-
! suplv of abolition. The South Is abolition IN theory
Political economv-"every mlu for himself let alone,
THE world is much governed are It's catch-words
aud its philosophy. The philosophy of the South is one
of uuiytr-l liberty aud equality, because u has not seen
or f the evils of liberty OF free competitions Of at
| tempted equality, nor the necessity OF protection
Whilst abolition is the philosophy OF the South, slave
nv H. that OF the North. The North asks io protection,
and protecton means slavery The obligation to protect
carries with il the night TO control But killing compe-
| ou-natioual aud iudiyidua-eaches the North that
it is tie appropriate the one, the only business OF gov
erumeut 70 protect weak individuals and weak commu-
mites against strong As well set John Heenan TO
fight with bow to improve the boys condition. as to set
rich aste and skiul nations or individuals 10 compete
in the war OF the wits and Of trade with poor and sno-
rant ones The Northern phJsophy the true oae; but
Southern pdcticeS IN esiNluS duu V'SCtu5 tuV hCdhi
have in part superseded the necessity OF such phioSo
phv Yet the South has, so far impoverished herself by
her iaterat onal free trade doctrines She beginning
10 learn that white require protection as well as ne
roes and h.t Southern commerce, Southern manuiac'
lures nav all Southern industrial pursuits must be pro-
tected as well as Southern negroes. After while, we
know we h succeed in teaching her that protection
means slaveiy-and free trade abolition
Let Ms not be misunderstood or msrepresented. The
doctrine of free trade when held by the wealthy cunning,
strong aud skn is not an abolition doctrine, because
free trade and free competition enable them to tax,
deyour and enslave the weak poor and ignorant Eng
/ land Is right 10 hold and propagate such doctrines,
| for her capital, skill, aud commercial advantages
enable her TO conquer more than hall the worth OF
her trade Trade is a OF the wits in which the as
tue conquer and the poor and Ignorant are made triou
ares In other words liberty is good thing for the
strong because it opens field for the war OF wits in
which they are sure to conquer the weak But liberty
s death the poor, weak aud Ignorant, because II eN
poses them unpo eced TO the assaults aud devices OF the
wealthy the cunning and the wise. Liberty must be
so restricted as to afford protection to the weak
against the strong. Political economy proposes to dis
peuse with all restrictions to let alone aud leave the
strong in unbr died liberty oppress the weak Slave
nv protects the weak Free Trade proposes to let every
man take care of himsef-n fact, TO disiuegrate and
dissolve society; for the sole object OF society to pro-
tect the weak The doctrines Of Aristotle directly
opposed to the doctrines Of free trade
We suppose Mr. Chestnut is young man that he has
not got the hang Of things in the Senate has not learned
to let lis thoughts in the old ru or he would not
have yentured on theories Gin that body so novel,
| starting and original. The Senate Ike the English
House of Lords is the last place into which new ideas
are admitted Senatorial speeches are IKE the coid
baked meats OF A funeral and Mr. Chestnut has violated
proprety in serving up anything that was not STALE trte
and common-pace But his inexperience may plead his
| snology Mr. Chestnut says The vitality which is IN