The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-10-04

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caily they maintained that llumau
slavery, in its most Unmiligatuh form.
was a perfectly just, proper ANA dcsir-
able institution, entirely consistent
with Christianity as they understood
it, ana founded on principles of uni
verSal Jurisprudence. They insisted
upon 1t as an established and settled
rule of t.le law OF nations that when
ohe g. rcrnnlcnt on community or po-
iltlGal organization made war upon its
o Tn subjects. or the subjects OF another,
!, and vanquishcd them, the people OF
the beaten party lad no rights to
which the right of the conqucrors was
not paramount. Whenever it WAS de-
monstrated, by actual experiment.
that any people were too weak to de
fcnd their homes and farlilics against
an invader who viSitch.Lrm with fire
and. sword, they might lawfully be
stripped Of their Property, and they
themselves, their wives and their
chrildrcn, might justly be held as
slaves orsold INTO perpetual bondage.
That was lac idea they planted III
heir own soil, propagated among
1'leir O incorporates, and transmitted
90 TIE Abolition party OF the present.
lay. You have preached and practi2eu
It in all your dealings with the South.
This absolute domination is what you
| mean, If you mean anything. when
you talk about the ''precious results OF
the war" If the doctrine thus plant
ed by the original settlers in Massa-
chusetts be true, and if the ''prccio"S
fruits" Of it, which you are gathering
with so much industry, he Legitimate,
it is Il perfect justification OF all the
slavery that ever existed or this CONT
ncnt. Your great cXcmp]Ars, from
whom you acknowledge that you have
derived your ideas of freedom, certain-
Is thought, or protested to think so,
md they carried it out to its logical
consequences. When an African p"-
!entate chose to fight with and subduc
= weak tribe, inside or out Of his own
lominions, he sold the prisoners
whom he did not think proper to Kill,
md the men Of Massachusetts bought
them without a question OF his title.
they kept them and worked them to
leatli, or sold them again as their in
jerest prompted-for they held that
The right of domination, resulting
from the application Of brute force,
vas good in the hands of all Subse
luent purchasers, however remote
IRON, the original conIusitor.
THE YANKEE SLAVE CODE.
The slave code planted in Massachu-
sets was the earliest in America ana
the most cruel in all its provisions.
1t was pertinaciously adhered to for
generations, and never repentcd of or
formally repealed. 1t was gradually
abandoned, not because it was wrong,
but solely because it Was found after
long experiment to be improbable.
Their plan Of Keeping twenty negroes
us clcaply rs Il white servant did
not work well; for in that climate a
negro thus used would infallibly die
before his labor paid what he cost.
They sold their stock whenever they
could, but emancipation was forbidden,
by law, unless the owner gave securi-
" to maintain the slave and prevent
aim from becoming u public charge.
10 cyade this law, those who had
| old or intirm negroes encouraged
them to bring suits for their freedom,
and then by sham denGrrers, or other
collusive arrangements. got judg-
mcutS against themselves that the ne
grOes were free, and always had been.
Females likely to increase the stock
were advertised TO be sold 'lor that
FAULT aloae.n Young ONES, because
they We're not worth raising, were Civ
en- away like puppies of 4 supe:abun-
dant litter. In this way domestic sla-
very by degrees got loose in practice,
simply because it would not pay-but
the principal on which Il nan may
own another whom he subdues by SUI
| perior strength or cunning was never
abandoned, repudiated or denied.
That principle was cherished, pre-
served and transmitted to you, their
initiative and loving disciples, and you
have applied it wherever you could rs
tyrunically rs they did.
TIE puR1rAN's "IDEA" OF WAR.
You say that "war without an idea
is simply brutality.n l submit to
YOUR judgment ~ y Christian man,
whether Wal il redeemed of its bru-
t;lity by such ideas Us you and your
political associates entertain of i'll
purposes, objects and consequences.
Ia all your acts and measures, and by
all your speeches and discussions, you
express the idea that the logic of
blows prove everything you choose to
assert; that q successful invasion Of
one people by another has the effect Of
destroying all natural right TO, and oil
legal guarantees for the life, liberty
and property of the people so invaded
And conquered; that after a trial by bat
tie The victor may enter up and exc
cute what Judgment lie plca>es against
his adversary that the crime which a
weak community ore guilty Of when
they attempt TO defend their lives,
their property and their families
against invaders who come upon them
to Kill, destroy and subjugale them is
so objectionable that the whole body
of the offenders taken collectively,
and all individuals who partake even
passively Of the sin, may justly be de-
voted to death or such ollIer punish
nlent, by wholesale or retail, as the
strong power shall see proper to in,
iict that the conqucror, after the wal
is over, may insist that the helpless
unarmed people, whom he has pros
tratcd, shall assist him by not merely
accepting, but "adnptiig' use your
own world the measures intended tC
degrade and rob them, and thus make
himself master of their souls as wei
as their bodies. All rights Of men are
resolved by this theory into the miyhts
Of them.
Iaver that this doctrine, in all its
length and breadth, is false and PERM
cious. 1t is the foundation on which
all slavery rests, and the excuse for al
forms of tyranny. 1t has no support
in any sound rule Of public law, ant
has never been acknowledged by wise
and virtuous governments in any Az
since the advent Of Christ. You cai
find no authority for il, except in the
examples of men whose names are
given over to universal exccraHon.
Mahumet asserted it when he forced
his religion upon the %subiugated East,
when chdYclles were violently con-
yerted into mosques, and the emblem O
Christianity was trainl'lcd under foot,
10 be replaced by the badge Of the i'm.
poster. On the am principle Poland
was purtitioncd, and Ireland plumber
ed q dozen times. The king Of Daho'
mny acted upon it when he old his
captives, and the men Of Mas-achu-
sets endorsed it when they took them
i'm exchange for captires OF their own.
You and your conI!eres adopted it As u
part of your political creed when, az