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Show 50 LIBERTY AND SLAVERY. very amiable philanthropists came all the way from England, as the agents of some aboliti~n society there, and tcld us all that the law of God reqnires us to love our neighbor as om'Selves. In this benevolent work of enlightenment they were if we mistake not, several months in advane~ of Dr. Wayland. We no longer need to be enlightened on such points. Being sufficiently instructed, we admit that we should love ow· neighbor as ourselves, and also that urson, murder, and so forth are violations of this law. But we want to know whether, semper et ubique, the institution of slavery is morally wrong. This is the question, and tc this we intend tc hold the author. § II. The second fallacy of the abolitionist. Lest we should be suspected of misrepresentation, we shall state the position of Dr. Wayland in his own words. In regard to the institution of slavery, he says: "I do not see that it does not sanction the whole system of the slave-trade. lf I have a right to a thing after I have gotten it, I, have a natural right to the means necessary for getting it. If this be so, I ehould be a~ much j~tified in sending a vessel to Africa, murdering a part of the ARGUMENTS OF ABOLITIONISTS. 51 inhabitants of a village, and making slaves of the rest, as I should be in hunting a herd of wild animals, and either slaying them or subjecting them to the yoke." Now mark the principle on which this most wonderful argillllent is based : " If I have a right to a thing after I have gotten it, I have a natural right tc the menus for getting it." That is to say, If I have the right to a slave, now that I have got him, then I may rightfully use all necessary means tc reduce other men tc slavery! I may shoot, burn, or murder, if by this means I can only get slaves! Was any consequence ever more wildly drawn? Was any non sequitur ever more glaring? Let us see how this argument would apply tc other things. If I have a right to a watch after I have gotten it, no matter how, then I have a right to use the means necessary to get watches; I may steal them from my neighbors! Or, if I have a right to a wife, provided I can get one, then may I shoot my friend and marry his widow! Such is the argument of one who seeks to enlighten the South and reform its institutions! |