New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-02-04
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY d, 1860

that account 1t would be the hight Of selfishness
for tbose ebo eroy the blessing to desire to main
tain exclusive possession Of IT, because IL costs an
effort Of selfdenal 10 give the proper notoriety to
the pleasing reality asserted By the Virginia Sen
atm
Yet how inconsistent seems the proposition in
view of the denunciation universally hurled by the
Stuth upon the heads Of those who systematically
aim to show Slavery TO be q baDeful institution.
Instead of welcoming discussion which leads to
the gratifying conclusion reached by the calm and
pbOsophic mind Of Hunter, that discussion is sio-
ltnty assaed as being too much for mortal slave
bode,s and the advocates Of shareholders to BEAR
II is yehemeDty declared that this discussion is no
better than endless torment; and that If il be not
arrested, then thu Slave States must secede from
the UDion in order 10 find peace aud rest 70:
Their sOuls. Perhaps we ask too much, in asking
Of BIr Hunter to reconcile these conflicting ideas,
or to remove the doubts they insp re concerning
the soundDess or sincerity of bis theory. 10 toe
Absence of that explanation, We stall be par
doued if We consider the idea IN question as akin
to ttoee mopstrOus legal propositions lately laid
down in regard 10 the same institution, and which
am at nothing less than to reverse the oest
opinions Of the wsest men Of all ages. and to turn
back The creat current Of humane sentiments and
benign Judgments that has saved the Courts OF
Law from the charge of being the worst OF tyr
annies.
We rtaiDy do regard these hateful novelties in
regard to Slavery, as foul crop Of error AMI as
sprlneinR from the same feculent source. We con-
ceyc them to be tire natural offspring of the ant
wrong OF defen ling the night to.hold human beings
in bondage; crime which necessitates sophS-
try, fosters lesbl paradox, and creates Judicial
blindness. The man thus involved, runs into
usze Of delusiOD, in seeking extricstion from the
reproacbes of conscience, and the just cOndem'
nation Of mankind. This sOpbistcation by some
strange law Of nature, teems here to creaee
and propagate Sd ensayemeIt Of the higher powers
OF those who maintain it. Such intellectual mani
festsGons it would SEEM could Only proceed from
declining civilization, and from putretactOn OF the
social state. They are abssements of the mind OF
man; distortions and defOrmites OF his better ma
ture They are the excresceDces of disordered
mental organism, being to the understanding what
tumoIs are TO the physical body. We believe
them to be the result Of psychological laws, from
whose operation there is DO escape, and not the
mere cspIces and eccentIicties Of isolated minds.
1t is thus we ascrbe to such mental phenomena
greater consequence than might be otherwise a.
tIibuted to them. They not only spread their IN
fuence over society where Slavery exists but they
extend their boneful effects beyond. Our own
metropolitan press affords abundant evidence OF the
way in which the infection is didused. In this
view, Mr. Hunters proposition not only affords
matter for rdicule but for grave reflection as WELL