Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1864-02-24
NORTHUMBERLAND RIGHTS.
RICHMOND WHIG.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEB. "A. 1854.
Ths Irrepressible NegrO.

I
s,.r.v considered rss adjdieata. Pamphlets, essays
soA lectures are now the order of the day. and the
seonomca social and moral aspects of the question
are being rsOonsidered with degree oil fairness shu
intelligence tha. promise wiser Judgment and more
liberal sentiment on the subject Who knows pus tna1
the grea. controversy which the Southern States have
so long waged with manknd-uith pen and tongue and
now With sword will result in revolutcuizng not only
established opinions, and sweeping away deepseated
hnatieisD, but al-O to large extent, in reforming
Dor systems aud social institutions Such predictions
have been made, and stranger predictions have been
! fulfilled.
Two very neatly printed aud English-looking pamph-
les now lie before from the press of Saunders
Otey Co, and the other from that of Truoner Co.,
London. The title of the FIRST is: "a Brief Reply TO
an Important Question; being Letter to Professor
Goodwin Smith, from an Implicit Believer in
the Holy Ssrip.ures'' The second is "on the
Negroes Pace in Nature By James Huut, Phi. D, ,.
s RR.S.L, A. s. L., Foreign Associate of the
Aathrcpoogicl Society of Paris Honorary Fellow Of
the chronological Society Of London, Corresponding
Member Of the Upper Hesse Society for Natural and
Medical Science H., &C.. and President OF the Anthro-
biological Society Of London" The first CT these
pamphlets replies very cOnelusiVely to similar publ
cation By Professor Smith, in which that gentleman had
undertaken to establish the negative Of the questions
Does the Bible sanction American Slavery"
The fact that the institution slavery is twice distinctly
recognized in the D.clogue in the 4:h and 10th COM
mandments dismissed by the Professor with ppancy
Qlite uubecomng teacher Of wisdom and truth in 80
reno Ened an University that OF Oxford. Here is
via. be has TO say en- that head Tue last Of the
:. Ten Commandments shows ~ what was the general
state of society for which the Code was framed, and
likes the real position Of the slave in the household
Thou shat net covet thy neighbours house thou shalt
not covet thy neighbours wife nor his man 'srva"',
nor his maid servant nor his or nor bis asa any
thing that is thy nsighboEr VS. that the wife IL
as completely subj ct Of property aud part of
" mans estate as 3 man SsrUdHt CT maid "rVdnt-
Aud when this is SEEM all thought of degradation as
attaching to the condition of slave is at an end"
IRE sharp reply of the responding pamPhlsteer is Had
You not yourself italicized the words 1 should have
ancied you have forgotten that this passage con-
- prses with the servant and the maid servant,
not only the WIFE, but the OK aud the ass a1d every
" thing taat il his Are we really to understand that
YOU Professor OF History in The University OF Oxford,
" would feel is no degradation 10 be considered Al
"o1-or "a as?'
Bot not satisfied WITH mere rstOrt tho author
OF tie reply reasons as follows: "Like all 9th
er words OF Holy Writ, the more closely these era
" exam ned the more comprehensive, the more aceu-
rate, the mora exhaustive, they appear. la three
short lines We have a rsSms Of every variety Of pro
yerty tina. maa eau hold Tne hOue, type Of mani
mate things thai are absolutely his, well or III,
nr IN
destroy The wife, slaves, cattle his living property
each ranked according the nature and extent OF its
yl5ordinaton to his will The wife, her person and
her sarSic, biz, but his alone-unt miserable during
ais it, and a. hs death revsrsng ipsO aeto to her
/" self The OK and the transferable at pleasure;
subjected merely in respect Of person and OF ser
vice. but of life itself; and differing from the mani
mate house only in TIA; they must net be hurt or
damaged, but tended with the regard Que to every
(" ;hirg that in common vita himself has received
from It's Creator portion at least OF the myste-
rous glt Of lie. The slave holding position be-
tween the two; owing indeed subordinaton of person
AID Of service only no. Oflf but with this oblga ion,
ike that Of the the ass transferable at pleasure,
his masters dsalh revertng not to himself bat to
" his masters Leir." -
We hope mona Of our lady readers will be
Il, tied a. too iatiuatOn that the vie is the
property Of the husband The idea is no resent dis
e,ysy aad the fac: no iunoVaaon-buJ has stood sub
s,AEtay embodied in ths codes, written or unWriten,
O all laods, sncs the Creator said to Eve: He (thy
hqsoa-d) shall rule over thee" By the Nosa'e Lag,
,bs Common Law OF England, and the Statutory Laws
VI this country the right of The husband to the person
ld services OF the wife distinctly recognized. The
H.. Of giving" the bride in marriage and her promise
- 'ooey," are m,thng than figures of speech.
Bat there ia a version of the Ten Commandments
Cor there are two forms OF the Decllogue in the Old
sorptures) that makes very nice and critical disoc-
ton oct x,en the condition of the os and that of the
servant that while it may better sui. those whose
nsnt towards the sex forbid the idea OF property in
Nie at the same time strengthens By the distinction
OF the terms employed the argument in favor Of prop
ertv in servant Wa refer to the version contained
il the vth chap. Of Deuteronomy, whore the XIII Com
ma dmsnt Is given as follows: "Neither shalt thou
dssir. thy nsigbbouSS wife, neither saAt thou eOV'
thy neighbours house, his field, or his servant,
or his maid servant his OK or his ass any thing that
Is thy neighbours" The critical rsader will not fail
to observe discrimination in the use of the words
ployed that leaves those who may be most daintily
c,asderate of the position of woman withou the slight
es, reason to doubt that as the servant the full own
er,hp of the master meant to BE- recognized AID
prctssted-so protected indeed to make it sin for
any one even to with to deprive the master Of his right
o. property.
But we have given more space than We designed doing
this matter and therefore for the obliged to
omit the notice We designed making of Mr.. President
Hunts interesting and adj, pamphlet on the negros
place in nature.
Among recent publications in London, bearing upon
the Coniederats cause We notes the following:
1.-THE Cotton Trade; It's bearing upon the prosperity
Of G,eat Britain and commerce Of the American Re-
public, considered in connection with toe system Of
negro slavery in the Confederate States"