The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1866-02-23

ne OclUSlOn CT NNOflCc anu ntiuo, Ninety /
our years ago, tho Legislature Of Virginia !
the British King, saying that tho
trade in slaves was 'of great inhumauity," |
was opposed tn The security aud hapiucss'
VI their constituents, would in time have
Ihc most destructive influence and cen
Hanger their very existence And tho
King answered thcm, that "upon pain of
his highest displcosure, the importation of
slaves should not bc in any respect OBJ
structcd.' PhoriSoical Britnin,' wrote
Franklin in beholt of Nirgiuia, " to pride
uysclf in setting free single slave that
happened TO laud on thy coasts, willie
thy laws continue traffic whereby SO maLy
hundreds Of thousands are dragged iutn
a slavery that Is entolcd on their posterily,"
" \ serious view ot this subject" said
Patrick Henry in 1913 "givcs gloomy
prospect to future times" In tho same
year, Geore Mason wrote to the Legisla.
turc Of Virginia: "The laws Of impartial
Providence may avenge our injustice upon
our p03tority.' IN Virginia and in the
Cuntuontai Congress, fersou, with the
approval Of Edmund Pendleton, branded
the slave trade as piracy; and he fixed in
the Declaration of Independence rs the
cornerstone of Americas "All men are
created equal with an unalieuublo right to
liberty On the first organization Of tenn
porary governments for the continental
domain, Jefferson, but for the default of
New Jersey, would, in lTSi, have couse-
Grated every part of that territory to free.
dom. In the formation Of the national
Constitution, Virginia, opposed by part
of New Euglanl vaiuly struggled to abolish
the slave trade at once and forever; and
when the ordinance of 1887 was introduced
by Nathan Dane, without the clause pro-
hibiting slavery, il was through the favor.
able disposition of Virginia aud the South
that the clause of Jefferson was restored
and the whole northwestern territory--all
the territory that then belonged to the ma.
tion--was reserved for the labor of free.
men.
DESPAIR OF THE MEN or THE REVOLUTION.
The hope prevailed IN Virginia that tho
abolition of the slave trade woulo ing
with il the gradul abolition of slavery;
the expectation was doomed to disappoint.
ment, In supporting incipient measures
for emancipation, Jefferson encountered diff
iculties greater than he could overcome
and after vain wreslliugs, the words that
broke from him, I" / tremble for my country
when reflect that God is Just, that his Just
ice cannot sleep forever" were words oi
despair. 1t was The desire of Washingt
heart that Virginia should remove slavery
by public act and as the prospects of a
general emancipation grew more and moro
dim, he in utter hopelessness of tho action
of the State, did all that he could by be.
queathing freedom TO his own slaves. Good
and true men had, from the days of lTT6,
thought of culUnizing the negro in the homo
of his ancestors But the idea of colonial.
ton was thought to increase the difficulty
uf emancipation sand in spite OF strong
support while it accomplished much good
for Africa it proved impraclica6le as a
remedy at home. Madison, who in early
life disliked slavery so much that he wished
"to depend as little as possible on the labor
OF slaves" Madison, who held that where
slavery exists, "the republican theory be.
comes lalacious = Madison, who III the
last years of his life would not consent to
the annexation of Texas, lest his country
men should fill it with slaves Madison
who said, slavery is the greatest evil under
which the nation labOrs, u portenlous evil
an evil, moral, political and economical, 8
sad blot on our free country" went mourn
fully into old age with the checrless words
"No satisfactory plan has yet been devised
sor taking out the STAIN
NEW VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
The men of tue Revolution passed away
new generation sprang up, impatient tina
an institution to which they clung shoulc
be condemned as inhunan, unwise and I'M
Just in the throes of discomfort at the self
rcproach of their fathers, and blinded by
the hster of wealth to be acquired hy thC
culture of a new staple, they devised tht
theory that slavery, which they would no
abolish, was not evil, but good. They
turned on the friends Of colonization, anc
confidently demanded, "Wby take bacl
men from civilized and Christian country
where their labor is source of immense
gain and power to control the marke
of the world, aud send item to land 0
Ignorance, idolatry and Incidence, whicl
was the home of their forelathers, but no
theirs Slavery is blessing. We're the,
not in their ancestral land naked scarcely
lifted above brutes, ignorant Of the conrs'
of The sun, controlled by nature? And il
their new abode, have they not becn laugh
to know the difference of tho seasons, t'
plow, and plant, aud reap, TO drive oxen
to tame the horse, to exchange their scanty
dialect for the richest OF all The language
among mon, and The stupid alteration of fol
lies for the purest religion? Aud sine,
slavery is good for tho Lhcks, it is goot
for their masters, bringing opulcnce anC
the opportunity of educ tating a race. Th'
slavery OF the black is good IN itself h'
shall serve the white man forever" Ant
nature, which better understood the quality
of heeting interest and passion, laughed. ai
it caught the echo: "man" and forever !"
SLAVERY At HOME.
A regular development Of prctcnsion'
followed tic new declaration with logica
consistency. Under the old declaration
every one Of the States had retained eacl
for itself the right of manumitting all slavcI
by an ordinary act of legislation; now, tht
power Of the people over seryitude thronGl
their Legislatures was curtailed, and Tho
privileged class was swift Ia imposing le
gal and constitutional distractions on the
people themselves. Tbs power Of emanci
patton was narrowed or taken away. Tht
slave might not be disquietcd by education
There remained an nncOu!essed conscious
liess that the system of bondage was wrong
aud a restless memory that il was at varl-
ance with the true American tradition IT.
safety was therefore to be secured by po
litical organization. The generation that
made. the Constitution, took care for the
lpredoininence Of freedom in Congress, by
tic ordnance Of Jefferson the new sGhoo
aspire to secure for SLAYER. an equality oi
votes ia tho Senate aud wlil5 il limited al
an organic act that should coLcede. TO The
collective South veto power on natiOna
legislation, Il assumed that each State sep
arately bad the right To revise and nulIily