Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-07-03

Of Bolivar, on tie road leading from Bolivar TO
Whltesville. l am ready q AZ Z times to catch
March 2, 1855. ~ Tennessee Democrat
The bloodhound was known in early
Scottish history; il was once vindietively put
upon the trail Of Robert Bruce, and IN barbar-
ous DAYS, by a cruel license Of war, Il was
directed against the marauders Of the Scottish
border; but more than century has passed
since the last survivor of the race, tept as a
curiosity, was fed on meat in Ettrick Forest .
The bloodhound was employed by Spain,
against the natives ofthis continent and the
eloquence Of Chatham never touched truer
chord than when, gathering force from the
condemnation Of this atFOcity, he poured his
thunder upon the kindred brutality of the
scalping-knife, adopted as an instrument Of
war by nation protesting civilization
Tardily introduced into our Republic, some
time after the Missouri Compromise, when
slavery became political passion, and slave
masters began 10 throw aside all disguise, the
bloodhound has become the representative
ofOur barbarism in one Of its worst forms,
when engaged in the pursuit ofa iellow-man
who is asserting his Unborn title to himself;
and this brute IS, indeed, typical ofthe whole
brutal leash Of slaye-hunters who, whether
at home on slaye-sOl, under the name Of
slaye-catchers, and kidnappers, or at dis
tance, under poiiter names, insult human ma
ture by the enforcement Of this barbarism.
(3) From this dreary picture Of slave
masters with their slaves and their triumvirate
of vulgar instruments, pass to another more
dreary still and more completely exposing the
influence of slavery; mean the relations Of
slGVe-aasters iOith each other also 'Oith society
and gOuGnmeato or in other words; the charac-
ter of slave-masters, as displayed in the
general relations of life. And here need
your indulgence. Not in triumph or in taunt
do approach this branch of the subject
Yielding only 10 the irresistible exigency Of
the discussion, and in direct response to the
assumptions on this floor, especially by the
Senator from Virginia, Mr., Mason) / shall
proceed. If Itouch slavery to the quick, and
enable slave-masters to see themselves as
others see them, shall do nothing beyond
the strictest line of duty in this debate,
One of the choicest passages of the master
Italian poet, Dante, is where scene of tran
scendant virtue is described as sculptured in
"visible speech on the long gallery which
led to the Heavenly Gate The poet felt the
inspiration of the scene, and placed it on the
wayside, where it could charm and encourage
This was natural Nobody can be surrounded
by virtue and justice, If it be only in images
and pictures, without feeling kindred senti-
ment. Nobody can be surrounded by vice
and wrong, by violence and brutality, if it
be only in images and pictures without COM
ing under their degrading influence. Nobody
can live with the one without advantage;
nobody can live with the other without loss
Who could pass his life in the secret chamber
where are gathered the impure relics of
Pompsii, without becoming indifferent to
lUathsOme things But if these lOathsome
thingsare not merely sculptured and painted,
if they exist in living reality-if they enact
their hideous capers in life, as in the criminal
pretensions of slavery-while the lash plays
and the blood spirts-while women are
whipped and children are sold-while mar
riage is polluted and annulled-while the
parental tie is rudely torn-while honest
gains are filched or robbed-while the soul
itself is shut down in all the darkness of ig-
norance, and while God himself is defed in
the pretension that man can have property
in his fellow-man; ifall these things are pres
ent, not merely in images and pictures but
in reality, their influence on character must
be incaleulable.
1t is according to irresistible law that men
are fashioned by what is about them, whether
climate, scenery, life, or institutions Like
produces like, and this ancient proverb is
verified at all points. Look at the miner,
delving low down in darkness, and the noun
tsineer, ranging on airy heights, and you will
see a contrast in character, and even in per-
sonal FORM The difference between
coward and a hero may be traced even in
the atmosphere which each has breathed and
how much more in the Institutions under
which each has been reared. II institutions
generous and Just ripen souls also generous
and lust, then other institutions must exhibit
their influence also. Violence, brutality,
injustice, barbarism, must be reproduced in
the lives Of all who live within their fatal
sphere. The meat that is eaten by man
enters into and becomes a part of his body;
the madder which is eaten by dog changes
his bones to red; and the Slavery on which
men live, in all its fve-fold foulness, must
become a part of themselves, discoloring their
very souls, blotting their characters, and
breaking forth in moral leprosy. This Ian
guage is strong, bnt the evidence is even
stronger. Some there may be Of happy
natures-like honorable Senators-who can
thus feed and not be harmed. MithridRtes
fed on poison, and lived and it may be that
there is moral Mithridates, who can swallow
without bane the poison Of slavery.
Instead of ennobling' the master, moth
ing can be clearer than that the slave drags
his master down, and this process begins in
childhood, and is continued through life
Living much in association with his slave,
the master finds nothing to remind him of
his own DEFICIENCIES, to prompt his ambition
or excite his shame Without these provoca-
tons to virtue, and without an elevating
example, he naturally shares the barbarism
of the society which he keeps. Thus the
very inferiority which the slaye-master at
tributes to the African race, explains the
melancholy condition Of the communities in
which his degradation is declared by law.
A single false principle or vicious thought
NAV degrade character otherwise blameless:
and this is practically true ofthe sIave=master.
Accustomed to regard men as property, his
sensibilities are blunted and his moral sense
is obscured. He consents to acts from which
civilization recoils. The early church sold
its property, and even its sacred vessels, for
the redemption of captives. This was done
on n hAl4o gBNeN9AOA ~ @AAAAAo7l1
and successive canons confirmed the example.
But in the slave states this is all reversed
Slaves there are often sold as the property of
the church, and an instance is related of
slave sold in South Carolina in order to buy
the plate for the communion table. Who can
calculate the effect of such an examples
Surrounded by pernicious influences of all
kinds both positive and negative, the FIRST
making him do that which he ought not TO
do, and the second making him leave undone
that which he ought to have done--through
childhood, youth, and manhood, even unto
age-unableswhile at home to escape these
influences, ovelshadowed constantly by the
pretentious Barbarian about him, the slave
master naturally adopts the bludgeon, the
revolver, and the bOWie-knife. Through these
he governs his plantation, and secretly armed
with these he enters the world. These are
his congenial companions To wear these is
his pride to use them becomes a passion,
aimost a necessity. Nothing contributes to
violence as much as the wearing Of the in