Abolition a Sedition, by a Northern ManColton, Calvin
History
Abolition a Sedition, by a Northern Man
Colton, Calvin
Abolitionists -- United States; Slavery -- United States
promotion of a STILL GREATER CAUSE.” Far be it from us, however, by
this allusion, to disparage the Temperance reformation, any farther
than the violent and overstrained part of it is concerned. And this
qualification, we trust, will be satisfactory to all, whose good
opinion we have any hope of enjoying.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE INCENDIARY DOCTRINES OF ABOLITIONISM.
_Facit per alium, facit per se._ The accessory to a crime is by law,
and in justice, made responsible with the principal. No man can deny,
that the effect of the Abolition doctrines and measures on the
slave-holding States, if they were not resisted, would speedily lead
to insurrection and massacre; that scenes of this horrible kind would
be constantly occurring, till the whole South would become a field of
desolation. It is true, the Abolitionists say, it would not be so, if
the slave-holders would give up. This, however is a justification,
which, we suppose, is not likely to be admitted. Everybody knows, that
the slave-holders will not give up, and that they are more remote
from it now than when this agitation commenced. The Abolitionists are
responsible for having, by their imprudence and rashness, rivetted the
chains of slavery, and put far off the day of Emancipation, unless
they shall succeed in breaking up society, by forcing abolition--the
responsibility of which, we apprehend, would be immeasureably greater
than that which now rests upon them. The right or wrong of slavery
cannot now be discussed with any effect, because another great
question has forced that aside. It is the question, whether the
political fabric of the country, in relation to this subject, shall
give way to violence? The claim of the slave to his freedom, we think,
will never be listened to, till that is settled. We must take things
as they are, and man as he is.
“No,” says the Abolitionist, “God forbid. We stick to _principle_; and
our principle is, that the slave has a right to his freedom--a right
paramount to any artificial and accidental state of society that
exists, standing in the way of it; and the consequences of opposing
this claim, _be_ on those who take this stand.” Is this a fair
statement? We are inclined to think it is, as to those Abolitionists
who lead and govern the cause. Certainly, we should be willing to
state it in any other form, if we could do it more fairly. We only
wish to know on what ground they stand, that we may know how to take
them. From all we have been able to learn of their principles, we
believe that the above statement does them no injustice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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