Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-07-02

brutal and vulgar pretensions, as we have
already too clearly seen Of course il can be
sustained only by kindred brutality and
ynlgarity. The denial Of all rights In the
slave can be sustained only by disregard Of
other rights, common 20 the whole com
munity, whether of the person, Of the press,
or ofspeenh. Where this exists there can be
bat oue supreme law, to which ali other laws,
legislative or social, are subordinate and this
is the pretended law Of slavery All these
things must be manifest In Blaye-masters,
and yet, unconscious Of their true condition,
they make boasts which reveal still further
the unhappy influence. Barbardus standards
of.cOnduct are unblushingiy avowed. The
swagger OF a bully is called chiyRlry;
q swiftness to quarrel is called courage
the bludgeon is adopted as the substi-
tute for argument; and assassination is lifted
TO be one Of the fine arts. Long ago 1t was
fixed certain that the day which made man a
slave 'tOok half his worth away y"-words
from the ancient harp of Homer, resounding
through long generations. Nothing here is
said Of the human being at the other end Of
the chain. To aver that on this same day all
his worth is taken away might seem incon-
sistent with exceptions which we gladly re-
eoguiEe but alas it is too clear, both from
reason and from evidence, that, bad as sla-
very is for the slave, it is worse for the mas
tor.
In making this exposure am fortified, at
the outset, by two classes Of authorities, whose
testimony it viii be difficult to question; the
first is American, and founded on personal
experience; the second is philosophical, and
founded on everlasting truth.
First american authority; and here | ad-
duce words often quoted, which dropped
| from the lips Of those Slave-masters in
better days when, seeing the wrong of Slave
| ry, they escaped from its injurious influence.
OF these, none expressed themselves with
more vigor than Colonel Mason, Slaye-mas-
ter from Virginia, in debate on the adoption
of the National Constitution. These are his
words
"Slayery discogrRges arts and manufatures-
| The poor despise labor when performed by slaves
| They prevent the emigration Of whites, who real
| ~ enrich and strengthen country. They prOdpce
/ tie most peTRiciOls s3eot on naHHers. EvERT MAS
| TER OF SLAVES IS ,BoRS PETTY TYRANT They
bring the Judgment of Heaven on a country
Thus, with few touches, does this Slave
master portray his class, putting them in that
hateful list, which according to every prinei-
/ pie Of liberty, must be resisted so long as
we obey God. And this same testimony al
SO found expression from the fiery soul of
jefferson. Here are some OF his words:
"There must be an unhappy influence on the
manners Of our people ,prOducedby the existence
| Of slavery among US. The whole commerce be-
tween master and slave Is a perpetual exercise of
| the most boistesOus passions. THR MOST uNREMIr-
| TING DEsPoTIsM on the one part, and degrading
| submission on the ether; our children see this
| and learn to initiate It. = = The man must be
prodigy iCAo can retain Ais manners and morals t-
i deprdusd Jy such circumstances. And with what
| ha ha al nh,
permitting one half the citizens thus to trample
| on the rights of the other, ydhgOTms those ir-
/ 10 desPois, and these into enemies, destroys the
morals of the one part and the amor pdrd, of the
| other With the morals of the people,
their industry also is destroyed
! Next comes the PhiIoS0phie Auth0rity; and
here the language that quote may be less
familiar, but is hardly less commanding
Among names of less weight shall not dis
/ criminate, but shall simply follow the order
of time in which they appeared. First is
John Locke, 1.-THE great author of the English
System of Intellectual Philosophy, who,
though once unhappily conceding indulgence
TO American slavery, in another place de-
scribes it in words that every slave-master
should know, as .t-Ls
"The state of war continued between con
i querer and his captive. So opposite 10
the generous temper and courage of our nation,
MUCH LEss A aEsTLENAN, should plead for T."
Then comes Adam, Smith, the founder of
| the science of Political Economy, who, in his
work on Morals, thus utters himself;
"There is not a negro from the coast of Africa
! who does not possess degree OF magnanimity
scarce a Jaf CtAR 4QFfid RestsT Is too often
! erted more cruelty her empire over mankind than
when she subjected these nations of heroes TO the
refuse of gaOls of Europe to Wretches who pos
/ sess the virtues neither of the countries which
/ they come from, nor of those which they 90 to,
aud 0hOss lerity brutality, and baseness justly
p0se hen 10 the contempt Of he udHQuished ~ hsorg
4 n Moral Sentiments Part T., ehdpteT 2
This Judgment pronounced Just a century
ago, was Tepelled by the slave-rnasters Of Vir-
ginia, in feeble publication which attests at
| least their own consciousness that they were
the criminals arraigned by the distinguished
! philosopher. This was soon followed by the
testimony of the great English moralist, Dr.
| johnson, who, in a letter to a friend, thus
shows his opinion of slave-masters;
ITO omit for a year, or for a day, the most eff
] caeiOus method of advancing Christianity in
compliance with any purposes that terminate on
/ this side of the grave, is a crime of which know
/ not that the world has had an example, except in
| the practice of he planters Of AHeTica, race Of
MORALS lUhOs suppose no OeT iUishes 10
| ue."-Latsr TO WiitaH DTaHnond l5h Augliz, 1865
! (BOs'OeLls Life Of johnson, By Croksr.i
| With such authorities, American and Phil
/ osophic, need not hesitate IN this ungracious
task: both Truth, which is mightier than Ma
son and Jefferson, than John Locke, Adam
Smith and Samuel johnson, marshals the
evidence in unbroken succession.
| Proceeding with this argument, which
broadens as we advance we shall see slave
masters q in the law of slavery, (2) in their
relations with slaves, (3) in their relations
with each other and with society, ana az in
that Inconsistencies which renders them in
sensible to their true character.
| a. As in considering the Character of
/ Slavery, so in considering tho Character of
Slave-masters, we must begin with the LaD
Of Slavery, which, as their work, testifes
against them. In the face Of such an unutter-
able abOmination, where impiety, cruelty,
brutality and robbery, all strive for mastery,
it is in vain to assert the humanity or refine
ment of its authors. Full well know that
the conscience which speaks SO powerfully
to the solitary soul, is often silent in the cor
porate body, and that, in all ages and coun-
tries, numbers, when gathered in communi-
ties and States, have sanctioned acts from
i which the individual revolts And yet |
know no surer way Of judging people than
/ by its laws, especially where those laws have
been long continued and openly maintained
Whatever may be the eminence Of indi-
vidual virtue-aud would not so far disparage
humanity as to suppose that the offences
which may be general where slavery exists
are universal-it is not reasonable or logical
to infer that that masses Of slave masters are
better than the law Of slavery. And since
the law itself degrades the slave to be a
chattel and submits him to their irrespOnsi-
bic control, with power to bind and to
scourge; to usurp the fruits of anothers la
Dor to pOllute the body; and to outrage all
ties of family, making marriage impossible
| we must conclude that such enormities are
sanctioned by slave masters, while the ex-
elusion of testimony, and prohibition of in
struction-by supplementary laW-complete
the evidence Of their completely. And this
conclusion must stand unquestioned just so
long as the law Of slavery exists unrepealed.