Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-08-26
The bred scott DOcI.IOp.


Scott decisions, that all our energies mus
be employed to crush Ogt the hideous an'
atrocious rebellion thatdesolates our land
They evidently regard old Dred Scott a.
an Ajax lebanon, to be brought out, wher
occasion offers, to do war wide-wasting
for the benefit Of their cause and for The
spread Of slavery. It is impossible to b.
cOnversant with their newspapers without
seeing how much they rely on their ebony
old champion toinsure them the victory il
their inevitable combat with the progres
sives. The Cincinnati Enquirer, of the
29th of July last, has q letter extracted
from the Hancock Courier, ostentatiously
directed to seven obscure individuals o.
that county, sand all others who are con.
servative men, and in favor of the Consti.
tuition as it is, and who support the decis.
ion of the Supreme Court of the United
States" But why not discuss and inves.
tigate2 Win any man be rendered less
effective against the rebellion, by an init,
mate acquaintance with the machinery
whether of force or fraud, which has pro-
duced our present national calamities Z
Are we, like the miserable Inhabitants Of
/ Congo and Dahomey, never to know the
origin Of our national grievances, never to
recognize the hand that smites us2 Know
ing as I.well know, the judgment in ques-
tion to be extra-judiciai, spontaneous, and
pragmatical, in the worst sense Of the
terms, Iperceive no motive of prudence OF
patriotism for abstaining from treating il
as it deserves. In due time I intend to
convince the reading public that our Su-
preme Judges were as lily prepared for
| their self-imposed tasks, by legal as by his
| torical knowledge.
The next witness whom we shall call is
David Hume, the great historian. His es-
say on the Populousness of Ancient Ma
tions is an elaborate argument against
Slavery, and must have been written be-
fore the 25th day Of August, seventeen
hundred and seventy-six, for on that day
he ceased from his labors. Without en-
dorsing all that he says, our present busi-
ness is to bring him forward to contradict
the astounding assertions of Judge Taney
and his associates. In his Introductory
chapter will be found the following para
graphs "As much as submission to a
petty prince, whose dOminions extend not
beyond single city, is more grievous than
obedience to a great monarch, so much is
domestic slavery more cruel and oppres-
sive than any civil subjectiOn whatever.
| The more the master is removed from US
in place and rank, the greater liberty we
enjoy; the less are our actions inspected
and cOntrolled and the fainter that cruel
comparison becomes between our own sub
lection and the freedom and even .domin-
ion of another. The remains which are
found Of domestic slavery in the AMERI-
CAN colonies, and among some EUROPEAN
nations, would never surely create desire
Of rendering it more universal. The lit
tie humanity commonly observed in per-
sons accustomed from their infancy to ex-
ercise so great authority over their fellow
creatures, and to trample on human ma
ture, were sufficient alone to disgust us
with that unbounded dominion. Nor can
more probable reason be assigned for the
severe, might say barbarous manners of
ancient times, than the practice of domes-
tie slavery; by which every man of rank
was rendered. petty tyrant, and educated
amidst ths fattery, submission and low
debasement of his slaves. According to
the ancient practice, all checks were on
the inferior to restrain him to the duty of
submission; none on the superior, to en-
gage him to the reciprocal duty Of gentle
ness and humanity. In modern times
bad servant finds not easilya good master,
nor bad master a good servant, and the
checks are mutual, suitably to the inyiOla-
bic and eternal laws of reason and equity"
GSee Hume's Essays, first volume, page
402: Cadelps London Edition Of 1874.
The capitals belong to the author himself !
Let the reader observe the correspondence
of Mr.. Humes ideas with those Of Mr..
Jefferson Mr.. Hume deplores the barbar-
GUS severity Of ancient slavery. It would
have been no kin to the modern institution
fit were other than cruel and barbarous.
Modern Slavery has debauched the nation
al conscience far beyond the area on
which 1t can actually lift its scourge and
erect its slave-dungeons. In countries no
toriously under-peopled like Ohio and In
diana, where women are seen working in
the fields, politicians are at this moment
using every sinister art to infuse the most
MALIGNANT passions into the breasts Of one
Glass of working-men, to get them to mas
sacre or drive ont another, whose hungry
necessities i1pel them to work for
bread No party, no man desires
the presence Of the negro here.
On the contrary we deeply regret it, while
fully convinced that in higher state Of
civilization and knowledge, the presence
of the unfortunate creature, would not
only be harmless but useful, without di-
minishing the emOluments and comforts Of
any laborer, old or young. The increase
of capital is so rapid in Ohio, the hecessi-
ty for new fields, new cellars, new houses,
new towns, new streets, new highways and
new manufactures, is SO great that all the
laborers, who choose, for ages to come, to
settle amongst us, are likely to be reward
ed, with increasing rate Of wages. Yet
we regret the presence of the negro here
because cunning and unfeehng men will
manufacture him into a potent engine of
fraud and deception. They will ride him
as their favorite hobby. A man who can
cast aside all moral ties can become truly
formidable to his neighbors. When Ar
kansas drove out its free black population
under penalty Of peFPe4ual slavery, for
remaining six months longer in that ruff
fan community, we felt the insult and we
felt the injury. But we had to submit for
atrocity must have its advantages. Had
we met the miserable refugees at our bor-
ders and driven them back, we should on
ly have been less atrocious than Arkansas.
But these politicians are only laboring st
their vocation. To expect them to resign
the advantages Of their ebony hUmbug,
would be to expect thimble-rigger to re-
sign the use Of his cups and his balls at
country fair, surrounded by young gud-
gions. Near the home of my infancy in
the sunny South lived an old blue-beard,
the owner oftwo female slaves. Herculean
was his frame, shaggy were his eyebrows,
forbidding his looks. One fine morning he
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