Great and grave questions for American politicians, with a topic for American's statesmen
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By BBaRA-OTJ ' ' I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole Union — a subordinate one to my own State." — Heney Clay. "Free labor, the acknowledged source of National wealth, is the bulwark of free institutions." — Hon. Wm. M. Stewart. ' ' "Whilst, in the Old World, all physical labor is considered ungentleman- like, in America, on the contrary, not to work is looked upon as thoroughly degrading. " — Pulsey. "L'unite c'est la vie d'un peuple." — Victor Hugo. "Abandon, at once and/or ever, all notions of Secession, Nullification, and Disunion. Determine to live, and teach your children to live, as true American Citizens. There will be in the future, if there is not now, as much of pride and grandeur in the name of ' American Citizens,' as there once was in that of ' Roman Citizens. ' The Republic is destined to go on increasing in National power and greatness for centuries to come." — B. F. Peeey, Prov. Gov. of South Carolina. — Speech at Greenville, July 3d, 1865. BOSTON : "Walkeb, Fullee & Co., 245 "Washington street ; A. Williams & Co., 100 "Washington street. CINCINNATI : Bobeet Clarke & Co. , 55 W^est Fourth street. / Ncu) $)ork : C. S. WESTCOTT & CO.'S UNION PRINTING-HOUSE, No. 79 John Steeet. 1865. \^\^\ I- TO THOSE WHO GAVE Zbtii Jfrienbsljip (USASKED) TO A STRANGER, THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED. TABLE OF CONTENTS THE FIKST SECTION. Illustrations, p. 3. — Results of Rebellions, 4. — Opinions Convulsed, 4, 5. — The Restoration, 5. — The First French Revolution, 6, 7. — Harp of France, 7. — The Southern Rebellion, 7.— Times of Pitt, 7.— England's Great Rebel- lion, 7, 8. — Lokd Campbell's Declaration, 8. — Doings of a Proclamation, 9. — God's Means, 9.— Southern Scourge, 9. THE SECOND SECTION. Elustrations, 10. — Old Parties Broken, 10.— The Democratic Party, 11.— Baltimore Resolution, 11. — Southerners All-powerful, 11. — Education in Georgia, 12. — Virginia in 1677, 12.— Police Cases, 12.— Eyes Filled with Tears, 13.— The South Very Good, 13.— Payers and Repudiators, 13.— Tone of Society, 13. — High Blood, 14.— New England Devils, 14.— Capitalization of Labor, 14.— African Docility, 15.— South Carolina, 15. — Huts, 15.— Geor- gia, 16.— The Moravians, 16.— Labor, 17. — Comforts, 17.— Peince Henbt, 17. Heathenism, 18. THE THIRD SECTION. Elustrations, 19.— Ireland, Poland, and Greece, 19.— National Nomencla- ture, 20.— The Contrast, 20. —Verified by Facts, 20.— Sectional Terms, 21.— Health, 22.— Freedom, 22.— Life and Liberty, 22.— Liberty's Power, 23.— A Nation's Value, 23.— Boston, 24. —Stagnation, 24.— Ignorance, 24.— Source of Power, 24.— Nationality, 25.— Washington's Words, 26, 27 —Our Duty, 27- THE FOURTH SECTION. Illustrations, 28.— England's Great Periods, 28.— Progress, 28, 29.— Ameri- can Colonies, 29.— Changes, 29.— Fruitful Germ, 29.— Political Geography, 29.— Proud Prerogative, 30.— An American Nation, 31.— The General Senti- ment, 31.— Days of Darkness, 32. — Agitate and Educate, 32. — An Appeal to Americans, 32.— A Question Asked, 33.— German Manifesto, 33. — A Prophecy, 33.— A Tray of Pearls, 35. THE FIFTH SECTION. Illustrations, 36. — Six Elements, 36.— Free Communities, 37. — The Great Arch, 37.— Many Systems, 37.— State Rights, 37.— Faults, 38.— Politcal Sci- ence, 38. — American Characteristic, 39. — Rights of Man, 39. — Ports Wide Open, 40.— A Prayer to God, 40. THE SIXTH SECTION. National Elements, 41. — Not Presumptuous, 41. — Present Safety, 42. — Rights of Citizenship, 42.— Infamy, 42.— Soul of Lincoln, 43. — Education, 43. — C. Beooks, 43. — Works on Education, 44. THE CONCLUDING SECTION. Farewell! 45. — Nature's Charms, 45. — A Mother's Voice, 45. — Disobedient, 45. — Tubal Cain, 46. — Repose, 46. — American Achievements, 46. — Joys, Blessings, Patriots, Prosperity, 46. — Dreams, Martyrs, Scholars, 46. — God's Word, 46.— My Brother, 46.— Twine the Garlands, 46.— My Sister, 46.— Zone of Happiness, 46. TABLE OF CONTENTS. APPENDICES. PAGE. A Topic for America's Statesmen 47 Face the Danger 49 The Situation 51 A New York Village 53 Meeting at Newark 55 Reconstruction 56 The War Cry 56 South Carolina's Laws 58 Items Worth Remembering 59 The Germans' Manifesto 60 William T. Blodgett, Esq 66 The Character of America's Ladies 67 Manhood Suffrage 08 The Man of Destiny 74 The Empire in Exile and Harness 77 ' ' Done to Perfection" 80 The Spectre 80 The Murderer 81 The Scribes 83 The Lancashire Distress 84 Meeting of Operatives 85 National Grant for Lancashire 86 Parliamentary Grant Association 87 Meeting in Stevenson Square 87 Unemployed Operatives 88 Address to the Pate-Payers 89 The Anti-Southern Lecturer 91 Maryport 92 Over Darwen 93 Barker's Writings and Lectures 93 Stockport 96 Free Speech Prevented 98 Mr. Broom's Lecture ICO A Challenge 101 Middleton 102 The American War 103 Confutation of Statements 108 W. W. Broom's Reply 110 Second Lecture 117 Lincoln's Native State 121 Southern Standard Literature 1'2'2 Kershaw's Hand-Bills 122 A Telegram for Southerners 122, GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. " The school of pain is hard but productive." — W. H. Dixon. " It was only with the revolt against England that freedom came to any part of the black race in America." — W. H. Dixon. " Thy best Hope where, dear Liberty ? In fast upwinging time. Thy first strength where, proud Liberty? In thine oppressor's crime." " The end of the war has been obtained. The republic has fulfilled its destiny. Slavery, the plague-spot upon the fair body of our country, is dead, and no trumpet, though it were an angel's, can awake it to resurrec- tion."— Four Years in Secessia. " L'unite de l'homme correspond a Tunite de Dieu." — Victor Hugo. " Behold the few who stalk abroad in pride, In gilded trappings or a garb of gray, With haughty mien and soldierly disguise. They left our legislative halls, unstained Except by their offences in times past, And secretly in conclave met and- swore, With all the hate of aristocracy, To make of the plebeians all — the poor, Degraded menials, subject to themselves ; And vowed, this end to gain they would destroy The happiest nation on the verdant earth. They talk of rights, but are the foes of God, Of man, and man's most dear-bought liberty. Nor have they more exalted aim in life 4 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. Than crushing right and revelling in wrong ; Brigands, and pirates, vampires, blood they crave, The fulsome, self-styled chivalry are they, Who took the sword, by it to fall, indeed." J. C. Webster's Foe Unmasked. Unsuccessful Revolutions and Rebellions are always bene- ficial to the progress of humanity. The advantages are not invariably immediate. Sometimes they are very remote. Only the profound and highly sensitive mind can penetrate the confusion and blindness of incensed passions to see Law and Progress. Wealth, energy, intellect, blood — are not wasted. There maybe mourning and weeping in the house- hold over the sacrifice of a loved one >— harassing poverty and grim destitution may depose the queen of beauty enthroned in luxury — intellect may exhaust its depths in devising plans that are futile or inoperative — energy may droop piteously and pitifully, broken-hearted at the loss of once giant strength and inflexible determination — wealth may vanish from workshops, warehouses, banks — nevertheless, in the midst of seeming despair and ruin, the elements of Good are silently but surely gathering and combining, the subtle operations of Spiritual chemistry are evolving conditions and forces that will everlastingly improve and bless mankind. " God moves in a mysterious way ;" but the way is only mysterious to the ignorant and the faithless — and to the " worldly-wise," who scheme for solitary aggrandizement. One Revolution and two Rebellions have convulsed opinions and startled theorists on two continents. The revolutionists and rebellionists were defeated. Many lamented the bitter strifes. Curious and " dry-as-dust" statisticians figured-up the stupendous loss of life and property. So many persons shot — guillotined — so much wealth consumed unproductive- ly. The statisticians lay down their pens and fulminate GEEAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 0 against the people for not practising business habits, and for not possessing mathematical knowledge ! Animate those figures with the soul of faith and the reckoners will see a magnificent compound interest — capital (blood shed and wealth scattered) yearly trebling itself in extending freedom, increasing knowledge, and deepening the faith of peoples in God's never-ceasing goodness. The Kestoration soon followed the death of Ckomwell. A selfish, heartless debauchee disgraced royalty and degraded his country. To enable him to satisfy his licentious extrav- agance, he accepted money from France. He transformed palaces into brothrels, his court into a moral cesspool. The gentle sweetness of Milton, that had mellowed and hallowed the stern councils of .the Puritans, had departed to a — garret or to Heaven. The grand far-seeing of Cromwell was shrouded in death. The malicious execrations of cowards, fools, hypocrites, and knaves, brayed in vain over the unoc- cupied clay-tenement. The psalms and Scripture-comfort sung and given to each other by pale women and disappointed men, were invoked and sought in dark recesses. The good and noble mourned the national gyrations of moral dissolu- tion. The vile herds who fattened on political corruption, and gloated over royal depravity, danced gleefully amid the ruins of a nation's glory. Not so ! The ruins were not of glory, but of sin. Fiends were dancing amid the wreck of despotism, The flames of hell lighted the terrible scene. The slowly-burning embers of Absolutism were fitfully gleaming around the hiding-places of wise patriots who were breathing fervent prayers to Christ. God was operating for the nation's benefit — for the world's advancement. But the people did not then see what we now know. In clouds of smoke, where steel was clashing, Progress was nestling 6 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. and growing serenely and securely as an infant in its mother's arms. The first French Revolution violently estranged men from each other in all modern nations. It appalled Burke, but pleased the operatives of England. France became, as many supposed and asserted, a chaos of bloody crimes. The wit of Voltaire, the eloquence of De Holbach, the startling logic of the Cure Meslier, the well-aimed shafts of Diderot, had shattered priestly power and torn-up the roots of a noble Christian faith. Rousseau had shattered the political edi- fice. The sickly and nervous man, weak as a child and fear- ful as a maniac, had hurled thunderbolts against the proud monarchy, and split the gorgeous throne asunder. What a rushing to-and-fro of priestly apes and- political imbeciles ! The sky lurid, the atmosphere dark and sultry, the waters roaring and rushing, oratorical giants grappling with each other, " Clubs" declaiming against old while evolving and explaining new theories, mobs starving and execrating — the nobility scattered, flying, gasping for a foreign shore — and, in the midst of this Pandemonium of passions, vanities, am- bitions and deadly antagonisms, the Guillotine cast its re- volting but purging shadow of an impartial Nemesis. In time, the grim strife merged into the Consulate and the Empire — the Empire vanished before Monarchy uplifted on bayonets — and, again, Monarchy fled, as once more the Empire stealthily (having lost its martial boldness) ad- vanced. Was the Revolution useless ? Was the land soddened with blood in vain ? Did rival " patriots" depose each other in an objectless tragedy ? Keenly examine the history of France during the past three centuries, cast your eyes over the partially cleared ground, and the answer will not be GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. J affirmative nor uncertain. Mackintosh vindicates the Rev- olution, and Buckle displays his learning and acumen in giving proof of the blessings showered on the pathway of Civilization by those who cut the locks of strength of the Samson of Absolutism. The Bastile, and nearly all it represented, has vanished into thin air. Imbeciles cannot again occupy the palaces of France, though scheming, crafty, subtle hypocrites may. Beranger is enthroned in the sen- timents of the French people, and the psalm of eloquence for freedom is poured-forth in never-ceasing strains by Victor Hugo — the soul and harp of France. The sallow- faced monster of Imperialism is obliged to use the rhetoric of progress and mouthe the syllogisms of freedom. Northern resistance to the Southern Rebellion was a ghost as horrible to the nations as was the French Revolution. The manners of the times of Pitt have been adopted in England in treating of the American struggle. The same absurdities of language, rashness of theories, violence of de- nunciation, pomposity of judgments, have been repeated. The intellect and patriotism of England throbbing for the North — the ignorance, passions, prejudice, and greed, yelling for the South. Profound philosophy, the lessons of history and the dignity of truth, marshalled for the North — reckless lying, audacious brutishness, the bitterness of vulgar cun- ning, plotting for the South. In the House of Commons the same pleasing and revolting features are seen. The oratory of Bright, the energy of Taylor, the experience of Foster, overruling the ignorant petulance of Roebuck, the impu- dence of Laird, and the stupidity of Gregory. The Great Rebellion of England struggled for freedom, the contending parties in France during the Revolution were all opposed to despotism, and strove for liberty according to 8 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. the meaeure of their understandings. The Southern Rebel- lion was instituted to overthrow freedom and progress. Its leading men hated free schools, free speech, free press, free thinking — they only loved slavery, subordination, and des- potic government. They resolved that no " law denying or impairing the right of PROPERTY in negro slaves shall he passed." The long screech of South Carolina against the North was on behalf of retrogression, moral desolation, Heathenism, and national destruction. Thirty millions of human beings were driven to shed each other's blood to sat- isfy the dark and remorseless designs of a clique of infernal sinners. The rich harvests of industry were destroyed by political barbarians. Dissolute crusaders against Civilization crawled round the mountains, tainted the once delightful at- mosphere with moral poison, and darkened the Heavens with the breath of destruction. The bright and gentle feathered denizens of the air, the forests, and the valleys, were scared by new and dismal sounds. The pioneer was arrested in his pilgrimage through the wilds to extend human progress — his unblunted axe was no longer required. The soft, sweet music of murmuring streams and gentle zephyrs, was hushed in the thunders of cannon and the groans of dying demons and patriots. Black hearts raging and shedding blood for black purposes. The stars veiled in the smoke of rebellion, the air filled with the moans of the bleeding and the sobs of the bereaved. But Progress was in the midst — for over all God reigneth. " You can never conquer the South," was the hourly- proclaimed words of knaves and imbeciles, here and abroad, " therefore, stop the unholy war." " The North may make a Poland of the South," said Lord Campbell, " but it can- not be conquered ;" and, while he was speaking in Manches- ter, the war-steeds of freedom dashed over the serried hosts GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 9 of Devildom ! The North has Triumphed — rebellion for slavery is crushed — and Civilization is preparing to march through the world under the bright banner of American Re- publicanism. From the smouldering embers of camp fires — amid the wreck of cities and the pauperism of once gay homes — amid mountains tinged with blood and the bankruptcy of South- ern credit — amid the loneliness of little orphans and the tortures of wives divorced from wedded love by the Furies of war — amid the groves of a sunny land turned into a reeking burial-ground — emerges the sable forms (of young and old, of strong and feeble, of the growing and the decaying) of FOUR MILLIONS emancipated from the "new empire" built out of the quarried materials from the infernal regions. Manacles struck off from the gored limbs of slaves by a — Proclamation, " done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh." Once more, blood, wealth, energy, have produced an abundant harvest — -free- dom ! Revolutions and Rebellions, apparently unsuccessful, are not failures but instruments — are not horrors but bles- sings— are not the Devil's luxuries, but God's unerring means of bringing man back to the Garden of Eden. Every tear shed in times of civil war is a jewel dropped into the diadem of universal Civilization. Every heart's throb hushed on gory plains is the arranging of elements that will fill the valleys of National life with harmonious forms, ever emitting sweet perfume and rich odors that blend with a purified at- mosphere, where the Psalms of Freedom are everlastingly trilled-forth amidst Beauty and Clearness — amidst Spiritual Beauty and Moral Clearness. 0 God ! we adore Thee for this second rebellion — this Southern scourge, but greater blessing. 10 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. " Let men do wrong upon system, and they will soon imbibe a passion to do wrong — and a passion to do wrong in one form, has a natural affinity with propensities to do so in other forms." — R. Vaughan, D. D. " One of the Southern leaders, speaking about the institution, said, in 1849 : ' If left to the tender mercies of the Federal Government, its fate is doomed. With the prejudice of the age against it, it requires for its kind development a fostering government over it. It could scarcely sub- sist without its protection !' " " The Democratic party sympathizes with us, and some of its influential leaders are pledged to om- side. They will sow division there [in the North] , and paralyze the Free States." — Among the Pines. " Education the criterion of the right of suffrage, not property. I do not believe in a government of ignorance, whether by the rich, or poor, the many or the few." — Hon. R. J. Walker. After emancipating the slaves, the next great good coming from the Southern Kebellion is the breaking-up of the old political cliques and parties. The Woolly-Heads, the Whigs,* the Silver-Greys, the Know-Nothings, the Barn- * " Yer an Abolisherner, aint ye ?" " No ; I'm an old-fashioned Whig." " What's that? Never heerd on them afore." " An old-fashioned Whig, madam, is a man whose political principles are perfect, and who is as perfect as his principles." That was a " stumper " for the poor woman, who evidently did not understand one half of the sentence. " Right sort of folks, them," she said, in a half-inquiring tone. " YES; BUT THEY'RE ALL DEAD NOW."— Among the Pines. GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 11 Burners, the Free Democrats, are all non est. The great Democratic party is shattered — the party that in Baltimore, in June, 1852 — " Resolved, That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renew- ing iu Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the Slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made." The great Democratic party that assisted Southern slave- mongers to become all-powerful in Congress and the creators of Presidents, is shivered. When Pulsky was in America in 1852, he declared that — " No President can be nominated or elected without the concurrence of the Southern States ; no statesman, therefore, who does not share the opinions of the South, can ever aspire to the highest post in the Union, whatever might be otherwise his statesmanship or his talents ; though the population of the Free States amount to thirteen millions, and that of the whites in the South only to six millions." That great Democratic party that supported Southern bullies to frighten, intimidate, and coerce, must be converted or annihilated. "When in power, the Southerners demoralized their country and bullied the world. The latter fact was not forgotten when the revolting Confederacy went begging, imploring, and beseeching to Europe. Russell jogged the memory of the South in the following paragraph : " The people in the seceding States, aware in their consciences that they have been most active in their hostility to Great Britain, and whilst they were in power were mainly responsible for the defiant, irritating , and insulting tone commonly used to us by American statesmen, are anx- ious at the present moment, when so much depends on the action of for- eign countries, to remove unfavorable impressions from our minds by declarations of good-will, respect, and admiration, not quite compatible with the language of their leaders in times not long gone by." 12 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. The Democratic party has supported the foes of intellect and the friends of ignorance. Take a solitary but signifi- cant fact from the history of the rule of the slave-oligarchy in the South. Here it is — " In a population of 524,000 freemen, there are 41,000 white adults in Georgia (in 1852) who cannot read, and the number of children, whose parents are not able to send them to school, is upwards of 38.000." It should, also, be remembered, that in the State named, the Old Dominion, in " 1677, no printing-press was allowed in Virginia." A royal governor had previously (in 1671) said, " I thank God, there are no free schools and no printing ; and I hope we shall not have these hundred years." On this revolting desire by a royal barbarian, W. P. Atkinson pertinently remarks — " The present condition of that State (Virginia) is a striking commentary on the sentiment."* The ruling passion of the South for repression of opinion and despotism was strong in the hour of death, for a trav- eller down South during the death-rattle, says : " Charges of abolitionism appear in the reports of police cases in the papers every morning ; and persons found guilty, not of expressing opin- ions against slavery, but of stating their belief that the Northerners will be successful, are sent to prison for six months." The same writer says : " In the South, the press threatened me with tar and feathers, because I did not see the beauties of their domestic institution." Can the foreign traveller expect any other treatment from men whose stolid hearts and ruthless brains were impervious to the solvent influence of the sufferings and tears of little * Classical and Scientific Studies. Pub. by Sever & Francis, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 13 children ! Bead this affecting incident that affected not Southern society : " The little negroes who ran ahout were smart, but some of them came into violent collision, and were cuffed incontinently. One mild-looking little fellow stood by my side and appeared so sad that I asked him, ' Are you happy, my boy ?' He looked quite frightened. ' Why don't you an- swer me ?' ' I'se afeered, sir ; I can't tell that to massa.' ' Is not your master kind to you?' 'Massa very kind man, sir; very good man when he is not angry with me,' and his eyes filled with tears to the brim." The South is very good when not angry with freedom, knowledge, and progress ! But when has it not been angry with these angels of the earth ? The Democratic party has countenanced and supported debt-repudiating scoundrels. Jeff. Davis grinned at the losses of the confiding who had lent their money to the State of Mississippi, and termed their tears " crocodile." The Confederacy was based on repudiation — repudiation of prin- ciples, of freedom, morality, and debt. At the commence- ment of the war, the Special Correspondent of The Times (London), was obliged to declare — " The North has set out with the principle of paying for everything, the South with the principle of paying for nothing." The Democratic party has supported the degraders of public sentiment and the debasers of public opinion. The historian says : " The tone of public feeling in the United States has retrograded in the course of a couple of generations." — J. M. Ludlow's Hist, of United States. In characterizing the tendency and tone of society in Mis- sissippi, from 1840 to I860, the Hon. E. J. Walker uses these words : " The incredible extent to which the publie 14 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. sentiment of that day was debased " — " the moral waste and desolation of that dreadful period/' Shall we be sur- prised, when even the " high-blood " of Virginia poured from the fountains of English crime. Head — " Nor must we forget, as a setoff to the high blood of which Virginia boasts, that that Colony was for a length of time a place of penal trans- portation." After such depressing recitals, it is refreshing to be told that — " The legislature of Massachusetts passed a Bill which practically de- feated the surrender of fugitive slaves, and this step had heeu/ollowed by Connecticut and Vermont." Ah ! those horrible New England States, they are not the garden of liberty — they are full of " insult and wrong," and they work " with the energy of devils incarnate to make the world believe their absurd statements." So says Anti- Abo- lition Tracts, No. 1. The Democratic party has tenaciously supported the ene- mies of well-paid labor. Africans were brought to America so that labor could be effectually and for ever capitalized. White men wanted to become rich out of the degradation of black men, women, and children. The desire was " mean," the act was barbarous. On this important topic we will cull a few facts from history. Dr. Kobertson informs us {Hist, of America) that — " As early as the year 1503, a few negro slaves had been sent into the New World. In the year 1511, Ferdinand permitted the importation of them in greater numbers. They are found to be a more robust and hardy race than the natives of America. They were more capable of enduring fatigue, more patient under servitude, and the labor of one negro was com- puted to be equal to that of four Indians." GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 15 The docility and strength of the negro made him an easy- prey for the greed and tyranny of Godless men. Not always is the literal reason assigned for making the negro a slave. In the following passage a climatorial reason is assigned for covering an infamous wrong. We quote from Mary How- itt's work {Hist, of America) — " Governor Yeamans introduced negro slavery (into South Carolina), bringing with him a cargo of slaves from Barbadoes. The heat of the climate rendering labor very difficult to the whites, and from its first set- tlement, South Carolina was a slave state. " The climate of South Carolina was not only congenial to the negro, but the temper of the people made them willingly avail themselves of slave labor — and very soon the slave population far outnumbered the whites." This passage is open to merry criticism, but our space is too limited for us to indulge in the luxury. But what has slavery done for South Carolina ? The Hungarian traveller thus answers : " The plantations in South Carolina, along the railway, seemed much poorer than in any other part of the South we had visited, and the cabins of the negroes looked little better than kennels." This observer wrote in 1852, and in 1860 Eussell thus described the negro kennels : " The huts stand in a row, like a street, each detached, with a pantry house of rude planks behind it. No attempt at any drainage or any con- venience existed near them, and the same remark applies to very good houses of white people in the South. Heaps of oyster-shells, broken crockery, old shoes, rags, and feathers, were found near each hut. The huts were all alike windowless, and the apertures, intended to be glazed some fine day, were generally filled up with a deal board. The roofs were shingle, and the whitewash, which had once given the settlement an air of cleanliness, was now only to be traced by patches which had escaped the action of the rain. I observed that many of the doors were fastened by a padlock and chain outside." 16 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. The atrocious cruelty practised in South Carolina for the maintenance of accursed slavery is related in the Appendix. We now turn to the opposition to and final adoption of slav- ery in Georgia. The founder of Georgia was a brave and God-fearing man. He affirmed that " slavery was contrary to the Gospel, as well as to the fundamental law of England. We will not permit a law which allows such horrid crimes." The early religious conscience of Georgia resisted the adop- tion of slavery. " The Moravians opposed slavery as contrary to the Gospel Slaves were at first hired from Carolina for a short period or during life, and a sum equal to the value of the slave -paid in advance. Thus, by de- grees, Georgia became a planting state, with slave-labor, like Carolina." — Mary Howitt's Hist, of America. Ameiican authors declare that " idlers and enemies of the industrious whites " transformed Georgia into a slave state. We quote the following passage by T. S. Arthur and W. H. Carpenter : " But evil counsel prevailed. The idlers far outnumbered those who worked, and although the trustees stood out for a long time, slaves were eventually admitted, and the energies of the industrious whites corre- spondingly paralyzed." — Lippixcott's Histories, Georgia. Another able writer (Goodell) insists that — " The first introduction of slaves into Georgia was in direct violation of express statutes of the colony itself, until slaveholders gained the as- cendency and repealed the laws. Into the other Colonies slaves were in- troduced a long time before there were any Colonial enactments authoriz- ing it, and consequently any show of legal sanction." These facts, and the revolting influence of these facts, are supported by the Democratic party. Will workingmen, will Americans, continue to countenance this party, unless it GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. IT speedily changes the objects of its affections ? In Mary- land— " Black slaves, as being cheaper, were preferred to white laborers ; an act, therefore, was passed in 1671, for encouraging the importation of ne- groes, which, in consequence of the intercepted trade with Holland, had almost ceased." To make men constantly drudge, to make them do so cheaply, are primary objects of the slave-mongers. Listen to one of slavery's admirers, who unblushingly declares that — " The coercion of slavery alone is adequate to form man to habits of labor. Without it there can be no accumulation of property, no provi- dence for the future, no taste for comforts, which are the characteristics of Civilization." Here is a solitary sample of the " comforts " that colored laborers have bestowed upon them : " All that a slave possesses belongs to his master, he possesses nothing of his own except peculium; that is to say, the sum of money or moveable estate which his master chooses he shall possess." — Civil Code of Louisi- ana. The slave must not have any of the fruits of his industry, the master alone must have the whole of the golden harvest. How unlike the motive that induced Prince Henry to order negroes into slavery. He did so for the supposed benefit of the enslaved, not to feed the greedy savageness of white men. The fact is worth repeating in this century of demoralized party politics : " Prince Henry of Portugal orders that if Goncalvert should not be able to obtain so many negroes (as had been mentioned) in exchange for the three Moors, yet that he should take them ; for whatever number he should get, he should gain souls, because they (the negroes) might be con- 18 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. verted to the faith, which could not be managed with the Moors." — Conq. of the New World. The negroes' conversion from Heathenism to Christianity did not improve their temporal condition in South Carolina. An extract from the Code of South Carolina proves this as- sertion. Will the reader carefully peruse this horrihle para- graph? : " And it is hereby declared lawful for any negro, or Indian slave, or any other slave or slaves whatever, to receive and profess the Christian faith, and to be thereunto baptized ; but notwithstanding such slave or slaves shall receive or profess the Christian religion and be baptized, he or they shall not be manumitted." The Democratic party has enabled the South to consoli- date and extend slavery. It has made the United States a nursery of abominations. It has reproduced Heathenism in the modern world. It has, for a time, fastened Heathenism on a continent that should be devoted to Christianity. On what other spot could Heathenism have taken fresh root, and exerted renewed energy ? A profound thinker shall give the summing-up of evidence in answer to this question — "Had not America afforded a market for slaves, we hardly see where else it could have grown up, and if it had not grown up there, legitimate commerce would have come in its place, and prevented any such trade. Black slaves might have been for some time a favorite part of the grandeur of a great household, but we do not see how they could have occupied a country already stocked with hardy laborers fitted for the soil, as was the case with Europe." And here we end this section of our work. GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 19 " Thy birthplace where, young Liberty ? In graves 'neath heroes' ashes. Thy dwelling, where, sweet Liberty? In hearts, where free blood dashes." The old party political terms must cease, sectional politics must disappear. Political rivalry produces jealousy, and jealousy begets ■ strife. The monarchies of Europe did not become strong until provinces, counties, and cities, became consolidated into nations. The theological Provincialisms of France deluged her with blood. The county-quarrels of England covered her broad acres with anarchy. The fierce contentions of Ireland made her an easy prey to the invader. The bitter hatreds of opposing Poles, palsied the power of Poland, and made her a miserable wreck. The vanities and enmities of the Greek republics broke the spell of the noblest minds, and covered a fair region with broken monuments, amid which the scholars of all times lament, and patriots mourn. It is the thought, the sentiment, the aspiration of Nationality that make a people grow in strength, extend in knowledge, and increase in grandeur. It is an ardent love for country (not "sections") that makes the family a home of patriotic felicity. The cry for unity of parts is a psalm set to divine music. Under the dome of a nation, Washington becomes the type of a people — within the precincts of a sec- tion, he becomes a governor, representing local littleness. 2 20 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. To produce a nation there must be principles, sentiment, and aspiration — and a political nomenclature that does not de- grade principles into expedients, nor sentiment into anarchy, nor aspiration into mere materialism. The principles must result from wisdom grounded in virtue, the sentiment must arise from affectionate enthusiasm, and the aspiration must be produced by Christian culture. Under such conditions, a people will become a nation, and the nation will become a moral and industrial power. No better illustrations could be cited of the soundness of the above statements than the condition of the Southern and Northern States. In spite of many deviations, the Northern States have steadily moved in the orbit of morality, industry, and prosperity — morality graced with religion, industry sanctified with philanthropy, and prosperity preserved for the world's advantage and progress. Without deviations, the Southern States have wildly marched to absolutism, degradation, and limitation of power.* The North has tended to unity, the South to * These assertions are verified by facts gathered by English travellers and historians. In Chamber's work on American Slavery and Color, we read — " At the opening of the Revolutionary war, there were slaves in al the revolted Colonies ; even in Massachusetts, the land of the ' Pilgrim Fathers,' there were slaves, and sales of slaves, too ; though it is proper to add, that Massachusetts was the first to 6et the example of passing an act of general emancipation." But, at the same time, what was the South doing ? Mary Howitt will give the answer. She says : " The same year (1712) that Massachusetts passed her prohibitory law, South Carolina enacted her first slave law." (See Hist, of America.) And the following relation, by the same historian, shows that the North has steadily but firmly advanced while the South was receding into complete barbarism : " When the Constitution of the United States was passed, in 1789, the slave-trade was formally prohibited after the year 1808, and it was gen- erally assumed that the emancipation of the Africans in America would take place in a short space of time through voluntary manumissions by the 6lave-owners themselves. But it was acknowledged that they needed some time for so managing their affairs that a sudden transition might not endanger their economical welfare. Sectional terms will have to be abandoned, sectional no- tions will have to be denounced. Words that sound-forth National thought, sentiment, and aspiration, will have to be the language of the future of this people. Materialistic ab- solutists, who "cant" with theology and blaspheme religion with shallow hypocrisy, must never again be permitted to disgrace Congress and degrade the country. The young Hercules of freedom should rise from his cradle of indiffer- ence and crush the serpents. Oh ! what multitudes on dis- will." A few more facts may be cited with advantage : " Indiana and Illinois have a series of Black Laws, which deprive the Negro of political privileges and the validity of his oath. Ohio repealed her Black Laws a few years ago. In Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, Ne groes were deprived of political privileges. In New York, Negroes can vote if they have real estate of the value of $250. In New England States (except Connecticut), Negro votes are equal to the whites. In Massachusetts, Negroes are eligible to the highest offices." " Slavery was abolished in New York in 1825 ; but in New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, not till 1850." And as a proof of advance, real advancement in the North, and of dismal receding into barbarism in the South, note this astounding fact : " The churches in New York equal in value all the churches in all the fifteen Slave States." 22 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. tant shores will rejoice when the deed is done. The air will resound with the plaudits of up-risen pauperism and unfet- tered energies. To have a healthy human being, there must be perfect freedom of function of each part or organ. To have a nation, there must he absolute freedom for each adult member of the population. Freedom, not license, for each one, not solely for one hundred or one million — to the terribly disgraceful exclusion of the rest of the community. Each son of God must be, or should be, a man on earth, not a slave, for " if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." Each son of God should be a man, not a tyrant, not an isolated monster draped in the splendor of infamy, whose music is the groans of the oppressed and the curses of the poor. And no pre- text, no pretence, no shuffle, no subterfuge, should be per- mitted to prevent an organ or man from fulfilling its or his function. Let not one man usurp the functions of another man. Let not one man think, and feel, and aspire for another — let each man think, feel, and aspire for him- self. " Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," are con- ditions of existence. Unless we exercise those functions, we become diseased, a part of our body-politic perishes. It is liberty that makes the life of a man, and life should be strong enough to guard and maintain liberty. The pursuit of happiness flows from freedom of action. When a govern- ment or monarchy regulates the volition of a people, an out- rageous presumption is committed, and desolating oppression is enforced. The country where such is done, stagnates, the people become mere machines, and madness or inanity be- comes the living death of the multitude. The child thrives only when allowed to talk and to play. When its voluble questions are a prattle about mysteries that philosophers can- GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. 23 not penetrate — when it romps and shouts, jumps and roars, flings toys about and breaks the dear-bought crockery — how very happy is the daring creature, how its whole forces are rapidly developing into proportions that will make the man of bravery and wisdom ! But chill the little thing into si- lence, forbid its wild antics, hush its merry shouts of bud- ding joys — and what a wretched, shrinking, withering, pas- sionless, stunted mass of adult imbecility the creature will become. The seed-germ must be free to put-forth and en- large the area of its root-fibres, or it will die, or become de- formed in its developments, and that is partial death. But let the seed-germ have freedom and space, and it will be- come useful and beautiful. It is liberty, dear liberty, that giveth the increase. It is liberty that makes clouds and skies alike captivating to the free. It is liberty that tills the rocky ground, and covers the seas with argosies. It is lib- erty that increases knowledge, and makes the circles of fancy bright and manifold. It is " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," guaran- teed to each individual that constitute a nation. Not the number of a population, not the vastness of mountains nor out-stretching plains, with uniformity of intellectual stag- nation, that produce a nation — though they may make an empire of gilded iniquity. It is fecundent life revelling in liberty that transforms bodies into men, and men into na- tions. This fact is well stated by a Boston preacher, who, in charming eloquence, thus speaks : " In estimating the value of a nation, you must not merely count the men, you must weigh them. Tou must not barely weigh the dollars, but gauge, and measure, and scan the quality of the men who own the dollars. An armful of Hebrews, a handful of old Greeks, have been of more value to the human race than all the four hundred millions of Chinese, with then- Tartar and Malay progenitors. A single Moses, Socrates, or Jesus, would weigh down whole provinces of the Celestial Empire." 24 GREAT AND GRAVE QUESTIONS. Just as Boston and Lowell "weigh, down" the whole of the Southern States, though having a more generous soil, and greater material resources to bless the energy of man. Energy of man ! Down South ? No ! Stagnation of man, you mean — perishing of soil, you mean — darkening fair regions with the breath of ignorance, you mean. 