The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1865-07-26
The South and Slavery.

The South and Slavery.
In the earlier days of the Republic,
before slavery became bone Of political
contention, and was made "a stepping
stone" for political dcmagogues to com
pas thcir ends, there were but few, even
among Southern slave owners but what
regarded the institution Of slavery as
great evil, and one which it was very de-
sirable to get rid Of, but there could, in
their estimation, be no feasible plan
adopted to eradicate this curse. 1t was
regarded as an inherited evil that it was
Impossible to extirpate, and one that the
country was doomed to suffer for oil time.
Various plans were devised for the pur-
pose of riddiug the country Of it, but
were all considered impracticable and
dropped The cmanci patton Of the
slaves appeared to be 4 problem that baf:
fled the ingenuity Of our statesmen, and
thus it was suffered to exist Us an evil
that could not be disposed Of.
Slavery was never regarded in any
other light than that Of a curse in those
States in which it existed, except by o
few men Of the John G. Calhoun school,
until the division Of the Methodist
Church in 1915. This division was cnus.
ed by q Bishop Of that Church who re.
sided in the South. marrying wealthy
widow and becoming large slave own.
er, which caused him to be considered
unGt to exercise the duties Of his Epis.
copal Office, especially by the authorities
OF the Church in free States, aud which
was in fac, the case according to the or.
ganic law Of his Church. This Bishop,
We learned at the time. proposed By sur
rendering his Episcopal functions to re-
store harmony to the Church, but was
dismissed from Thy the llo,spurs ofthat
organization in the South. aided and
abc,tcd by John G. Calhoun and his con.
rtIcrate politicians. The division was
made contrary to the wishes Of 4 large
majority Of the lay members who were
opposed to it, but the clergymcn were adj
vocates of it and carried The matter their
own way. There was society OF this
Church in almost every community IN
the South. 1t was the leading denom-
iinaton. After the separation Of the
Church, tho Southern clcrsymcn dropped
their former simple manners and habits
putting on the airs Of aristocratS and be-.
coming the sclf:cons;i,utcd guardians Of
slavery. From the plain aud simple min
listers of the rcl. .ion Of the Saviour, they
became the arrogant advocates Of human
oppression. Sermons were preached
aud BOOK, written to prove the divinity
Of African Slavery. The doctrines Of the
Bible were lost sight Of by those clergy.
men and they engaged in pandcrins to
the tastes and prcjudiccs Of Southern ma
bobs, aad by their pernicious doctrines
the people were mislcd to their Town un'
doing" They did not neglect to en-
bitter the minds Of the people against
their Northern brethren. Instead OF
preaching love and good will to all man:
kind, they sowed the seeds Of strife and
deadly hate, and wc will venture the as
sertion that they did more to estranSe
the two sections than all the political
] i,c.caiers Of the South. Slavery, in
stead Of being regarded as an evil, be-
came to be considered blessing, and in-
stead of laying plans to get rid Of 1t as
curse, means were devised TO pcrpetuate
and extend it as u blessing. The oppo.
neutS Of slavery in the North arrayed
themselves against the slavery extension
policy, and for this were denounced as
enemies Of the South. The breach grew
wider and wider, the fire eaters deter.
mined to extend and perpctuate slavery,
and the republicans as obs,nateiy deter
mined TO prevent its extension, Tut
!cvinced no disposition to interfere with
the institution where i, existed. The
Southern diSunion slavery .extensionlsts
continued the strife until they precipl'
tated the larger portion Of the slave States
into rebellion, determined to establish
government of their own. They rash
'ly tried the experiment, and ing!oriousIy
failed Of success, but they accomplished
in four short years what had bathed the
efforts of our statesmen and philanthro'
pists for three quarters Of century.
They abolished slavery-ut,erly uproot'
ed the institution.
Thus we SEQ that Providence con.
fouuds men in their crattincss and dc.
s,roys their idols By the means designed
for preservation. Northern philanthro'
phis,s could not destroy slavery, but
pro slavery traitors destroyed it in trying
to save and enlarge it.
Had it not been for the rebellion
Southern Slavery might have existed for
years TO come, but its advocates orerdid
the thing C9arksJurg Telegraph.
GRANT g. SoS.-The Chicago Journal