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Show William A. Phillips. since the glorious truths of human fr<'eclom w •rc sown as tho seeds of our nation, he has biC's~cd those who have warred with and for them. Look at the. tatistic· of the South. In spite of all the advantage lent to it by our vigorous young RepuLlican government, that section of our common COlllllry has been scared with the blight of a. curRe. \Vh •rc arc hr1· railroad::;, her commerce, her literature? One r emove above Mexican dilapidation, and that is all. Take two of the JirsL States of each cctiou for example. At the Uc,·olution, Virginia had twice the population of the State of New York, and thrice her wealth. New York ha now ix times the population of\ irginia, and New York city alone might lmy the whole State, aml have enough lcf'L to inv '. t in .Arkan~a. The city of Boston could buy the han~hty, and boa::;tcdly rich State of Routh Carolina. I.~ct u~ take the cvidenrc of her own statesman. l\fr. Faulkner of Virginia- now a fireeating Blav ry cxten. ioni t.-on the 20th of January, 1 32, made a speech in the IIousc of Delegate~, of the State of Virginia, on the subj(·ct. The following, l1e doubtlc ·s thought good then. I think it goou now:- "Sir, if there be one who concurs with that gentleman ns to the harmless character of this institution, let me rcqu<'st him to compnrc the condition of the slaveholdi ng portion of this Commonwealth- barrrm, dcsol{/tf', aml seared, as t't were, by tlw anmging hand of Jlcaren, with tlte description which we ha,·e of this country from those who first broke its virgin soil. To what is this charge ascribable ? Alone to tltc withering ancl blasting ifects of Slatwy. "To that vice in the organization of society, by which one half of its inhabitants arc arrayed in intcre ·t and feeling ngninst the oth er half- to that unfortunate state of society in which freemen regard lal.Jor as disgraceful, and sla,·cs shrink from it as a burden tyrat1nically impo. ed upon them. "In the language of the wise and patriotic Jefferson, • You must approach it- you must bear it- you must adopt some plan of emancipation, or worse will follow.' "~lan?ry, it is admitted, is nn evil. It is an institution which prc~sc~ heavily against the best interests of the State. It banishes free white labor - i~ exterminates the mechanic, the artisan, the manufacturer. It deprives them of occupation. It dcpri\'CS them of bread. It converts the energy o( a community into in?olcnce, its power into imbecility, its efficiency into Willian1 A. Phillips. 377 weakness. Sir, being thn:- injurious, hnvr wr not a right to demand its e.xtrn11inr~tion? Shrdl socirty suflcr thnt the ~>lavrholclrr may continue to gather his crop of human flrs h ? " ' ir, so grrat lliiU oYrrshadowing arc the c,·i ls of Hlnvcry- so St'!)~ ihly arc they felt by tlwsc who have trac·rd the causes of our national d<'l'linr __ so perceptible i" the poisonom; opt•r:ltion of its principl<'s in th r Y:ll it>cl <ll.<l divNsifird intcr('sls of this Cornmonw(•;dth, that all whose minds nn• llut warpetl by prejudice or interes t, mus t adnnt tlHtt the disra:;c has now nss~uH ed that mortal tendency as to jm;tify the application of any rt'lllPrly wlll(;h, under the great law of the State necessity, we might con-..itlC'r ad visablc." No long r do such voices fmm Southern men f~tll on the cars of the nation. Slavery in the ~outh has con·uptl'd its moral~, degnul <1 jts religion, and d •st roy eel if!.; ind(•pt•ndt·rH'L'. How in. ane to think tltat a nation can exi. t, or flouri:·dr, 011 the La~is of a great crime I Yet tlrry, in tlrc·ir m:1d frc·n :-:y, sfly the Dcch~mtion of Ind('pendcncc is f~llsc, l~"'r·c<·dolll a f.lilrrre, ~uHl Slavery bett er than the Constitution or th<! Union. Conservati~m timidly remon~tratc::;, and we:tkly tri<'.s to dis. uade crime from it · purpo~c8. Politieal coward;-;, "ho do not sec l>(•yon<l their nose:, thiuk it a mere quc~ tion of compromiE<e for Union. 'Vhnt is the real pnrpo~c of the flrc-eatrr;o;? lt i: 11ot nccc, ~;ary to s uppo~c that t h('Y all ha,·c a sc·n:' iblc purpos('. Unque tionably tl1e far-sightc•<l nmongst th <>m must not only look to S<.'paration from the Union, but sc·par·;ttion f'rorn Hcpuhli cani. m. They rnu t ab:o eontcntplate plac·ing thc·rnsc •h·<·~ unde1· some dcspoti._m with a standing army. llow el:o:<' t·:m three hundred thou ::tntl ~laveho]d 'J's hope to hold in dtt·<'k five millions of slaves, six rnillion.' of poor wl1it ei', :md hold the powerful Free States in chrck? Th >n the ari~tocr:r('r ot' Slav ·ry will, indeed, ri. e ahov' its tnnnm •Is ; and tlrt·r~ \VC will hav' th ' l\[arqui~ Eight lfllndred Nigg(•r:-;, Count Coltonbag, an1l tlw J>riJH:e of Octoroonia. 1 have shown that tho hi :-;tory of' the nge. wns lwt. tll(l l1i ·tory of a few men. Each recorded age hm:1 it:; man. H e is the lc::;son of its hL tory. Thi nge has had it::: m:m. 'VI10 32"'" |
