Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-08-21


=. Regolred, by the Senate and HoEse Of Repre-
sentqtires Of the United States Qt AmeT1eo, q.
CONGRESS assembled ttlrO-thjrdS IF both Houses
corc.TTinRl hat the following article De pro
posed TO The Legislatures Of the teVerai SI I1
as an amendment 70 the CONSTITUTION Vi 'ee = n.
ted states. ghich, when ratified by three tourlhs
Of aid legislatures shall b. Valid TO all intents
and purposes, as a part Of said CONSTITUTION,
namely
ARTICLE XIII.
SECTION l. Neither slavery nor involuntary
sarvitude, except as punishment Ior crime
whereof the party shall have been duly eonVlcted'
hail exist within the United states, or any place
subject 10 their Jurisdiction
SSxCTIoE 9 Congress shall have power to en-
force this article by appropriate legislation.
approved February /, ls65.'
We insisted, few days ago, that it was
alike the duty and the policy OF the people
Of Virginia and the South to dispose of the
sayery agitation, finally and forever, by rati-
fyiug this proposed Amendment, not only
with promptitude, but with cheerfulness.-
A every sane nan knows, there is no pos
sibility on earth of the re-establishment Of
African slavery on single foot of ground
within the limits of the United States. That
Institution is dead, and what objection can
there possibly be to its speedy burial
1t is clearly the duty Of thoughtful, practi-
cal and SPACIOUS men to accept the political
situation as they find it, and not to fret and
chafe over what is hopelessly irremediable.
Thousands and tens of thousands of our peO-
ple no doubt sincerely deplOre the fact that
slavery has passed away and will exist no
more. This is natural, for it was form Of
labor TO which they had been accustomed, to
which they were attached, which they
thought was the best in the world, and
which they ardently desired to sec perpetu-
ated. 1t is exceedingly natural, we repeat,
that they should, under these circumstances,
feel decided and almost uncOrquerable re-
pugnance to giving it up. We share their
feelings in this particular, and would fam
have held on to our peculiar domestic insti.
tuition still longer-.-until at least our own
people had become convinced Of the impor-
lance of getting rid of it, in their own way
and in their own time. But it has been 9TH
erwise ordered, as we believe, for some ul-
innate good purpose in cOrnexiOn with our
own happiness and prosperity. We accor-
dinghy submit with entire resignation, if not
with pleasure, to what appears to be, in a
most striking aud emphatic sense, decree
Of Providepce.--a decree inscrutable and
past finding out, perhaps, but still decree,
fixed and unalterable, Of the All-Wise and
ALL Good Being, who ruleth in the Heavens
above and in the Earth beneath, and who
setteth up and pulleth down nations at his
pleasure, and whose ways, of a verify, are
no. as our ways
Considering, then, that the abolition Of
slavery in the Southern States is thing not
merely of human continuance, but the work
Of a higher Power, we may all be the better
able 10 bear what seems to US to be mis-
Cortune with a ''meek and quiet spirit" and
with a solemn determination to accept it as
a ,,blessing in disguise" That it will turn
ont. In the end, TO be blessing to the South,
N the whole country and to the world, no
man can safely doubt for a moment, who re-
covuizes the finger Of GoD in the matter and
nuts faith IN his mysterious providences.
Rut whether Providence had any hand in
thu business or not, it Is none the less a fact
that slavery is dead, aud that there can be
no resurrection for it, if left entirely to hu-
man agency and control. The government
Of the United States and the whole people
Of the North, without dissenting voice, and
tbousands of the citizens of the South, have
mutually agreed and solemnly vowed that
slavery shall not hereafter exist in any part
of the boundaries of this great Republic
And against such determination, backed
and sustained, as it is, by overwhelming
and irresistible physical power, it would be
the very height of folly and madness for the
South to contend.
Nor, as we stated few days ago, would
IL comport with the oaths we have so solemn
" subscribed, to resist, in any manner, the
national decision on this question. Those
oaths were taken voluntarily, with an appeal
10 Heaven to bear witness that they should
be faithfully and religiOusly observed; and,
in taking them, we pledged ourselves to &C
cept the abolition of slavery in good faith,
and, implicitly, to refrain from oil agitation
in behalf of its resuscitstiOD, in any form
whatsoever. This being the case, we
are undoubtedly estopped, as high-minded
and honorable men, not only from seek
ing to re-estsblish slsyey, but from
throwing any obstacles in the way of its COM
plete, perfect and speedy extiuguishment.
Weare pledged, in the most solemn manner to
accept the fact Of the perpetual abolition Of
slavery, as a fact about which there can be
no further controversy. This is what our
oaths demand Of US, AMI prejudiced, carp
ing and censorious world viii be ever on the
watch TO see how We Virgiuians and South
erners keep our plightsd word. Let US per-
form this duty, however disagreeable it may
be. with the same iaithiulness, the same
alacrity, the same manliness, and the same
beroism with which We have discharged all
others, which these trying and unprece-
deuted times have imposed upon US. Let US
resolve to say" Perish property-yanish
all earthly goods-cOme sorrow, suffering,
oppression; but our honor and our good
uames-these are in our swn keeping, and
shall survive the general wreck, come what
may :"
Slavery, we repeat, is dead for all time;
and why should we vex ourselves about the
shadow, when the substance has departed
In other words, why should any rational and
patriotic man hesitate about bury ing the
carcass of slavery by supporting the pro-
posed Constitutional Amendment With
that Amendment as part of the Constitu-
tion, as it will very soon be, whether Vir-
rinia shall ratify il or not. peace N reality