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Show tg6 Fales Henry N ewh~ll. le .:on we mn:-:;t nncl er~ tand thi. conflict in all its fierceness and m~gnitncl . Ilcre .i - a. implc, faithful, heroic Cbri~tian m::tn drawing the . word upon American Slavery, and rh •e rfully dying in the conflict. Christianity aml 'la~ 'ry,. the .. e two sworn eternal foe~, arc drawn up fa ·c to fac' m thts lantl in b::tttlc array; anu the campaign is one in which the one or the other j~ certain to p rish. John Brown ha. fttllcn in the ficrht; 110 man can under ·tancl why he fell, who docs not u~derstand what that en my is against whom he drew the sword, and what that Clu·i tianity is which nerved his heart. Let us look, for a few moments, at that ncmy. \V c talk much of Slavery, aml think we understand it; yet thOLwh the word .is in e\·cry body's mouth, not one man in a 0 thousand reflect what it r •a lly is. It i:-; not a . ectional in ti-tution now, it is a national institution. '\Vit hin a few year' it has been made the ;-;in of the nntion, by th · combined act ion of the three grcnt d •partments of the United State" Government,- the National Congrc,·:--, hxr.eutivc, aml Judiciary. President Buchanan claims it as a national institution, antl coolly wonders how any body ever doubted it. The Supr 'me Court 1tns ofliciously volunteered its d •ei~ ion that we, citizens of l\Ia~-:achusctts, arc not m rely con nected with slavehol<ling States by the Federal Union, but we arc ·i tizen of a slaveholding nation. I am not, then, ~pea kin g to you of the ins of Carolina and l\Iis i ·.· ippi, but a~ an American citi1.cn I speak of the in , for which you and I arc res pon ~ ibl c, and for which you and I must an w r, as sure as there i' a God in heaven. I hall not drc 's the subject in any color. of rhetoric; Slavery is c n best in naked uglin ' . . Tnkc a bare, dry schednlc of what the . lave code d ,man d.' of' t h • ~I a vc and allows the ma. ter; of what it must demand aml allow in order to live a day. 1. Now the kernel of Slavery 1 ~ in thrre word~,- Prope1 ·ty in llfan. Admit that it is ev r right for onc man to own another, and all the uarbaritics of the most atrociou::; slave Fales I-Icnry N cwhall. 197 code lrgi timatcly follow. Now, if yon own a thincr yon own all tlt<•re i:-; of' it; anu if you OWll a In:tll you OWn all there is of lu'm,-you own lti hotly an<l hi:-; :oul, ltis blood, hones, and l.>rain. You own his ltnnd, ami all It i' Iwml can make and •arn; you own his head, and all hi · he~ul can think; he ha, no right to think but for you : his heart, and all his heart can f<· ·1; he has no right to fc ·1 but for you. If you take a deed or a. lot of land, you take therein a. dt..:ed of all the fruit that may drop on it, of all the l>ird · that may fly over it, of' all the min ·rals that may ever be found under it; and if you can 1 •gally take a <lce<.l of a man, all lhnt man's rights and privileges arc therein uec<led to you and your heirs forever. 2. It is, of course, ab ·ur<l then to talk about a slave's properly; the Jaw caunot allow him any. It is t ru , that iu loose, carelc ·s phrase, we talk about his hoc an<.l axe, his clothes, and even llis cabin or garden-patch, just as we talk al>out a } 1orse's blanket and stable. It is the owner's blanket on the hor ·c, and the mast r' · clothe on the hack of the ·lave. The law doc· noi allow the slave to ·a. II any thing his. Y 's, th 're is not one thing on all the earth or in all the heascn of which the slave code allows him to ·ay, '' This is mine ! " 3. He has no fiunily; he can ha.\'C none. It ici as ab urd to talk about " his wif'e and children" a· ''his eal>in and garden." llc may li vc with a woman called hi ::; wif\ but lite law recognizes no .-uch r elation in a slave. '\Vhatcv •r rights he mny ha.ve !tad as a husband or fitther were dec~e.d to the ma ter with the bill of ale. Tender and ~ympatlu zmg ma.tcrs th re an·, I rejoice to own, for the honor of human nature, but all th kindness of the kindc:-;t master cannot rnnke a ~bvc a husbancl. The law makes maniage cxaelly as impos::;iblc to him ns to a hor c. A . lave wom:m do '::l not, eannot own her ch ildren; thPy belong to her mn:ter. ' ltc ha no right to train 0 1' cuuentc them, llO right lO ]o\'e tltem, they arc her mastc:t';-; (in the cy of tltc law) ju:t in the ·amc sen' e that his 17~~ |
