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Show 258 APPENDIX· d I olden opportunity for the ld to have affor e< a g . all men, wou seem . erthcless abundantly cv.- . . f this evil. It lS ncv .. entire extmctwn o 1. ht cd persons, the propositlou . 1 · of these en Ig en dent, that 111 t 1e view ld property in man, was no t [awfully lw a that man canno I . abstraction," but a sacred , or " specu attve "visionary dogma , t" 11 of the constitution, they a truth which, in the .orma to truth- b olutel fundamental. openly embraced as a s Y I le of ri"ht-whcther it be by f the eterna ru " A departure rom 1. . n never fail to be productive . . b bodies po Itlc-ca indivtduals or Y . d' the praises which some persous . I N otw1thstan mg of eviL resu ts. . I· ry 1 no impartial person can da lavish on s ,,ve ' in the present y r . tl full force, to that unchristian deny that this remark app ws, Wl 1 institution. 1. bl' . to personal cruelty, of which WI I recollect the '" •t•es . . ICn an never b e d't vest c d-the tyranny winch 1s at such a system c . f a perfectly arbitrary power of h ccasional compamon o ' least t e or oan-the saI e o f h um an beino" s at auction-the stow- . man over . . 'I -the frequent and violent separatiOn f them m negro Jal s 11' age o T h ystemati.C excI us.w n of the slaves from al Ite-of fami ws. -t e sd fi om t h e oppor t ll·ty of readin" the bible for Ul " rary educatwn, an . r f . nse tracts of once fertile land, un-h I -the rum o tmmc . . t Clnse vbe s f I influence of s1 a ve Ia b or- and the demoralization ~::ht:; tl;:~l:ck and white population, wh~bchlyi::::.::o;:::• ;;,:r f h t I cannot posSI companiment o t e sys em, I f om l!imseif- 1 H nr Clay cannot concea r -1 am sure t Iat e y 't exists in tile United States, is a that slavery, and slaver~ as ' d . ous and baneful results. 'I d tive of most anger tremendous ev• ' pro uc . f I sub' ect become-how por- And how awful does the vtew o t te j f the newspapers published in 1 I lately observed a paragrap~l ~n ~ne ~ to be a peculiar blessing, cal· Richmond, Va., in whicll slavery IS cc ~r: dcgroe of happiness of which culated to afford to the blacks the gread st tl e development of the besl d Uadapteol · they arc capable, an equa. y . th t such a sentiment can be sen· faculties of the whites. Is It poss~~le a f free and enlightened North ously entertained by any of the Citizens o America? FREE AND FltlENDLY REMARKS. 259 tentous does the dark cloud appear, which impends over the prosperity of this great country-when we are informed, on so unquestionable an authority as that of Henry Clay, that the slave population of the United States now amounts to three millions ! Three millions of beings endued like ourselves with intellectual powers, and candidates for immortality, yet liable to be bought and sold, like sheep, pigs, and oxen ! Among the evils now described, there is one which claims a peculiar emphasis. Slavery condemns one-sixth part of the population of this country to the total absence of mental culture. Every one knows that " the mind makes the man." 1"'o cultivate and enlarge its faculties, and to store it with useful knowledge, according to ability afforded, is a duty to which all men are called, by •n universally understood command of the Highest Intelligence. llut the slavery of the United States, reverses the high behest of a benevolent ProviJence. It decrees that three millions of human beings and their descendants for ever, should be trained to the disuse of their understandings, and continue in hopeless ignorance. This flagrant contravention of the known order of God's government, must surely convince every reflecting person, that the root from which it springs is corrupt and sinful. Taking it for granted therefore, that there exists within the bosom of this great country, (so blessed by Providence, oP capable of almost interminable improvement,) one evil of vast amount and oggravnted character, it would seem that the views of every sound !talesman in the land, ought to be steadily fixed on the removal of it. The cause of justice and mercy, and the reputation of the nation, unite in calling for such a course. What then can be more surprising, than to find America's enlightened patriot directing the whole force of his mind and elocution, not against the evil itself, but against every effort to extinguish it; guarding, with the most jealous eare, every avenue, not to the progress of the disease, but to the application of the remedy? 82 |