Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1863-09-23
WOODWARD ON SLAVERY.
READ! READn RHADm


The Union State Central Committee in
their address TO the people, have quoted sew
erai passages from Judge Woodward IS speech
at Independence Square, in December, 1861,
wherein he declared that ssthe principal O. fhu
ma" bondage is divinely sanctioned, IT not di-
vlneiy ordaned,' and that .sthe Providence
! OF the Good being who has watched over US
| from the beginning, has 50 ordered our in
ternai relations as 10 make slavery an incalcu-
! liable blessing go us''-and further foreshad-
/ ows. and invites, and ju stities rebellion of
! the Slave States, act authorized by the
| ia'e Of self defence, which would entitle the
! shareholders ''to fall back on their Natural
/ rights, and employ in defence OF their proper
! ty, whatever means of protection they pos
/ sess or can command,
Such blasphemy and treason against God,
and humanity, aud the Government under
which we all live, are shocking enough with
out more. To complete the picture however
OF the depravity of the man, who could in
dulge in such utteranccs, by showing that he
knew better, and was wilfuy SHINING against
| light and knowledge, we would have suggest
ed TO the Committee-it we had been at their
elbow-the propriety OF re-publsh,ng his
thoughts upon the same question, at time
when he esteemed no more of the negro, than
of the foreigner, and only proposed to deny
the right of voting and holding office TO both
on the gronnd hat the Government was mere.
ly intended for white men and natives.
We quote few detached passages from a
speech made by him in the Reform Conven-
tion in l83S-vol. 10 Debates PIP. 10 u.
WHAT He SAID IN 1888
"W Whatever the sin of seizIng the defence
less African of tearing him from his home and
country, and Carrying him into hopeless bon
dage in a distant land, lies at the door of En-
gland. And whatevar evil has resulted, or is
to result to the colored people or the whites
of this country. from the institution of domes-
tic slavery, and the presence among us of
large masses of degraded and wretched blacks
is also fairly chargeable to the inhuman poll
cy of Great Britain
ssIf the colonies desired a participation 10
this nefarious traffic, they were excluded by
the monopolzing inhumanity OF the mother
country"
sEAnd this policy so disgraceful 10 England
and so injurious to the coonies-so preserv-
iDgly adhered to by her, and so abundant in
bitter fruits to us,was one of the causes which
finally impeled the colonies to throw off the ir
allegiance TO Great Britain.''
The Revolution Was not yet fought-their |
independence was not yet established, when
the ssOld Dominion" and the future s.Key-
stone'' OF the Federal arch extnguished for |
ever within their borders the Defarous traffic |
in human flesh.
ssLet Eugland's patriots dwell on her own
guilty cOunfxion with slavery in every part
of the world. Let them contemplate the huge
sim which rests upon her conscience y =. i.
Gba how form thair in 4 & /
rica, six or seven millions Of human beings, |
and carried them away into hopeless slavery. !
If the English instead al superadiing to their !
guilt, by attempts to dissolve our Union, and /
TO sacrifice our liberties, were 10 enlighten, |
civilize and christianize the remaining mil !
lions he Continent Of Africa, they would |
scarcely atone for the deep and unutterable
injuries inflicted that race by the prosecu- /
ton of the slave trade"
"They Nhe negroes) We're forced upon us. !
They came not as the primitive colOnists came. !
searching for liberty, but torn from their ma
tive soil by English rapacify, they were |
brought here slaves
1T is the great excellence and beauty of
our system that it is founded the consent !!
of the governed, SO thar allegiance and ideli- I
ty result as necessary consequences, and need 1
not hs enforced by oaths and positive enact /
ments But, sir, the negroes never assented, /
and their presence here. since it was procured !
by fraud and force, could not be construed in /
to an adoption OF the country, or acquies- !
Genet in its forms OF government. They were 4
brought here to be slaves and not freemen.''
'sIhe act of 1880, which abolished slavery
in Pennsy ylvania, proud monument to
the humane policy of the State. 1t wiped ont
the Stain of slavery, which England had left
on or soil, and conferred on the negro what (
he had not before enjoy ed-ctUi freedom. II
secursd TO him those ciUia rights 10 ehich he in
common lDith all other human beings, Of tUhateU-
er cline or complexion. had INFALLIBI.E title !
and of lrhich he neuey 0ught 10 hare been deprip-
ed.''
ssF,r the manifold evils which connect
them,elves with the black population of this
counry-there is a remedy. 1t is colonial
ton. The negroes belong to Africa--they
were cruelty torn from that country, and ii
they sould now be returned to their fatherland,
with the arts OF civilization, and the lights OF
educition and religion, their bondage might
prove blessing 10 the benighted millions of
that Continent
ssIbelieve the negro race to be capable of :
self government. Undoubtedly they deserve
| civil and religious freedom, and with proper
culture, are capable of enjoying it. And sir,
| veril, do | believe that the much wronged
! peope of the South would add to tho tide of
emigation by gradually aboilshing slavery and
sending their blacks to Africa. that We
| NIGH hope that our country would see the
day vhen slavery on her soil would be extinct" F"
WHAT HE SAID IN 1860
| Think of these things, feEow countrynen-
con uem over, one by one-dissect and ana
| lyZe iach fact-trace its connections and con-
| sequnces and then, when you combine them
| all irone glowing picture OF national prosper
| ity, rmember that COTTON, the produce Of Stare
| labor has been one of the Indispensable ele-
menB of all this prosperity. More, it must
be anindispensabfe element OF all our future