The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1861-11-08

! Sfs prevailing previous 10 any reClpr0CdI under
standing among them. Now, down to recent
period, the law OF conquett in war gave to the
victor the right OF life and death IN reference TO
has captive. In modern times the progress OF
CIVILIZATION has mItgated, even in war, this stern
rule Civilized nations DO longer turn their
prisoners INTO slaves
| We wish TO remark, however, that there is
NJ analogy betDeen ancient slavery and that
'chica prevails in this country. When the
| Spar iardS obtained footing in South America
| they began by burying whole nations of living
| Indians in the deep cayHrns OF their gold and
silver mines, to dig out for them the precious
metals there hidden. Their bishops remonstra-
trn--ihey appealed to the Pope-the practice
vas condemned and anathematizad-beoau pause
| the lndians were naturally free men, and it
vas crime against the Lord Gnd HIS Christ
| iar sEsFice to 5ring them down into the Sond-
| age nt slavery. Then steniion was drawn 20
the condition OF the negroes IN Southwestern
Africa as likely to supply the van. OF labor
| that was experienced by the invader. The
| Holy See never approved either OF this or the
other system. But the Holy See has only
voice, aud no armies 10 regulate the Inter-pene-
ratton OF Justice and injustice, even among
Catholic nations, round the globe. The African
slaves in the Southern States is lis actual con-
! sequence. We cannot ga 80 lar as 10 agree with
an eminent Catholic lurist and lawyer, in saw
ihs thai slavery sA divine inslhution. The
resi- Of bis eloquent dissertation on thai subject
IL far from being out OF harmony with the prin-
ci9srs of the Catholic Church. II 10 at least O
Divine permission of Gods providence. And
now let Us look al the matter from beginning to
end.
Africa, it Is well known is country Of saw
ages, not having the slightest gleam OF hope as
"a prospective civilization. We may say that,
"A all the south-western section OF Africa, there
i no such thing known as the idea of a natu-
raj freeman. The tribes IN the interior are 10
perpetual war, and the laws of war among them
are, that prisoner may BE- executed on the |
- N sold as slave. 1t is but lately that the |
yagr cs'-d King o! Dahomey inundated g |
~ soa'e say 5000, OF h's prisoners, or sub
hs equally savage father. This was according
TO what, in the barbarous spirit OF that country,
was called " the great custom" Now, II our
phlanthr0piss of the Abolition school would
pay the slightest attention 10 the instincts and
hopes Of human nature, whether IN Africa OF
elsewhere, they would easily comprehend that
these two or five thousand victims wOuld pre-
fer slavery to decapitation. This they might |
understand from what goes on here continually
viz: that poor prisoner who is condemned
to death BY the laws OF his country chooses TO- |
VarIably, il mercy should InterPose, The pen- |
tentiary Tor life in preference 10 the hemp Of
the gallows. This i: human nature, Of which |
our Abolhionists do not appear to have any ade- |
quate conception.
Now, supposs that the savage King Of Daho-
mey sent his subjects prisoners TO some OF the
factories on the coast and sold them for slaves,
would he be more guilty than II he had cut their
heads off Suppose the slavers at the dock |
should buy them of at 81 25 head from the
massacre OF their barbaTous tyrant, would they
be dong wrong! They would only have TO
choose between leaving those wretches TO be
butchered or transporting :hem TO some ofth
slave colonies of America. We, of course, be-
lieve that no genuine ChrIstisn-no decent man
would be engaged in this kind OF busi- |
ness; still, we cannot discover the crime even |
of the SLAYER in snatchIng them from the butch |
cries prepared for them in their native land |
When they arrive in those colonies would it be |
a crime for humane masters to purchase them |
al a sum which prospectively might cover the |
annual or semi-anu1al wages given TO laborers |
in other parts of the worldl These purchasers |
science they would be bound, to take care OF |
these unfortunate people. Under :he clrcum- |
stances, il is very difficult 20 discover in The |
purchaser any moral transgression OF the law Of
God or Of the law OF man, where that traffic Is |
authorized. The terrific part OF the question is,
that not only the individuals brought 10 .he A |
merican continent or islands are themselves to |
be slaves, but their posterity, in like ,nanner,
L.. m A.. r. IN, &C.
feature about American slavery. And yet il is |
not alien from the condition of mankind 10 gen. |
e.al. Original sin has entailed upon the human |
race it's consequences for tima and eternity
And yet the men who are now living had no
part IN the Commission OF original sin. The
drunkard, the thief, the'bad man OF any 1escrp-
ton. entails upon his poSlerIiy evils which the
forfeiture of his own personal life cannot prevent
or repair.
We are aware, indeed, that on The score Of
morality much can be said with truth against
slavery. The marriage bond. creating the rela-
tion between husband and wife among The slaves
is not always respected by their masters. Fam
lilies, if one can call them so, are broken up
the husband sold in one direction and the wife
IN another, whilst their children are disposed
Of according to the highest price offered from
any point OF the compass These are hardships,
bnt except in the right of selling and dispensing
families. they are not, unfortunately, peculiar
to the South. The degraded condition OF thous-
ands of females 10 our large cities in the free
States furnishes hint that it is for those who
are without sin TO cast the first stone, that men
should take the beam out OF their own eye be-
lore they attempt to spy out the mote IN their
neighbors. Nay, we would ask, 10 there NOR
aliat, even of the Abolition school, who does