The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1861-02-20

rending descriptions of slavery were given in
piercing tones Of passion; and shareholders
were held upas monsters Of cruelty andcrime
The abolitionist, indeed, proposed to convert
slaveholderss and for this end he approached
them with .vituperation and exhausted on
them the vocabulary Of abuse. And he has
treapsd as he soweds, - @s'ilfs go lt''s ~ :
Such is the testimony of DR.. Charming.
given in the year 1886. What would he
have thought and said if he had lived
until the. year 1850, and seen this little
stream, owe. whose, infant violence he la
mented. swelling into . torrent and food
ing the land? Abolitionism is abusive in
its persistent MISREPRESENTATION of the
legal principles involved in the relation
between master and slave. They reiter.
ate in thousand exciting forms the as
fsettion that the idea of property in man
blots out his manhood and degradss him
to the level Of . brute or q stone. "Do-,
mestic slavery" says Dr. Wayland, in his
work on Moral Science, "supposes at best
| that the relation Between master and
fsfave is not that which exists between
man aud nan, but is ! modification At
least OF. that which exists between man
and the brutes.n Do not these aboii.
ZIONIST philosophers know that according
to the laws of every civilized country on
earth, man has property in his children
and a woman has property in her husband?
The statutes of the State of New York
and Of every other Northern State, recog>
nize and protect this property, and our
courts Of justice have repeatedly assessed
its value. If man is killed on d rsii-
road, his wife may bring suit and recover
damages for the peeuuiary loss she has
suffered. If one man entice away the
daughter of another, and marry her while
she is still under age, the father may
bring civil suit for damages for the loss
of that child 8 services, and the pecuniary
compensation is the only redress the law
provides. Z vstsaatsW % s:.rstJga1
| Thus the CONNER. law of Christendom
and the statutes, Of our own State recog-
lnize property in man. In what does
THAT property consist2 Simply in such
services as man or child may properly
be required to render. This is all that
the Levitical law, or any other law, means
when it says: :, =
Your bondsmen shall be your posses
sion or property and an Inheritance for
yosr children. . The property consists
not in the right to treat the slave like q
brute, but simply IN legal claim for such
services as, MN in that position may
properly be required to render.
And yet abolitionists in the face of the
divine law, persist in denouncing the very
relation between master and slave Gas q
modification, at least Of that which exists
between man and the brutes." This,
however, ia not the worst or most preva-
lent form which their abusive spirit as
sunes. Their mode of arguing the ques'
tion Of slaveholdirg by pretended ap'
| peal to facts is tissue of misreprese1ta
tion from beginning to end Let me il
lustrate my meaning by a parallel case
Suppose l undertake to prove the wick
edpess of marriage as it exists in the cit!
of New York. Iu this discussion. sup
pose the Bible is excluded, or at least tina
it is not recognized as having exclusiv
jurisdiction in the decision of the ques
tiop. Ny first appeal is to the s;atut
, law Of the State.
show there enactments which nullif
the law of God and make divorce mar
ketable and cheap commodity. collec
the advertisements of your daily papers
. In which lawyers offer to procure the lega
Il separation of man and wife for stipulate
2 price, to say nothing in this sacred plac
a of other advertisements which deoeno
Q forbids me to quote. Then turn to th
. records of our criminal courts, and fin
that every day some cruel husband beat
= his wife, or some unnatural parent mul
f ders his child, or some disconnected VIII
9 or husband seeks the dissolution of th
! marriage bond, In the next place. I tur
E Z to the orphan asylums and hospitals, an
|. show there the miserable wrecks of Dc
t mestic tyranny in wives deserted and Chi
8 dren MANNED by drunken parents. In'th
last place, I go through our streets an
into our tenement houses, and count th
; thousands of ragged children, who, ami
Ignorance and filth, are training for tt
!. prison and gallows. Summing all thes
: facts together. I put them forth as tt
!. fruits Of marriage in the city of Ne
!, Y ork, and proof that the relation itse
is sinful. If I were novelist, and ha
written book to illustrate this same do
. ;rine, l would cali his array Of facts
: "Key." IL this key I say nothing abo'
the sweet charities and affection that aou
!. ish in ten thousand homes; not VOL
about the mnltitade of loving kindness
that char actsrize the daily life of hone
= people; not a word about the instructit
3; and discipline that are, training childr'
III ct ten thousand fresides for usefulness he
n and glory hereafter, all this ignore, al
quote only the statute book. the newsp
no pers, the records of criminal courts, al
O. the miseries of the abodes of poverty.
M Nov, what have I done? have n
- ~ misstated or exaggerated single fat