The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet ItHelper, Hinton Rowan
History
The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It
Helper, Hinton Rowan
Slavery -- United States
Thus have we presented a comprehensive summary of the most unequivocal and
irrefragable testimony of the South against the iniquitous institution of
human slavery. What more can we say? What more can we do? We might fill a
folio volume with similar extracts; but we must forego the task; the
remainder of our space must be occupied with other arguments. In the
foregoing excerpts is revealed to us, in language too plain to be
misunderstood, the important fact that every truly great and good man the
South has ever produced, has, with hopeful confidence, looked forward to
the time when this entire continent shall be redeemed from the crime and
the curse of slavery. Our noble self-sacrificing forefathers have
performed their part, and performed it well. They have laid us a
foundation as enduring as the earth itself; in their dying moments they
admonished us to carry out their designs in the upbuilding and completion
of the superstructure. Let us obey their patriotic injunctions.
From each of the six original Southern States we have introduced the most
ardent aspirations for liberty--the most positive condemnations of
slavery. From each of the nine slave States which have been admitted into
the Union since the organization of the General Government, we could
introduce, from several of their wisest and best citizens, anti-slavery
sentiments equally as strong and convincing as those that emanated from
the great founders of our movement--Washington, Jefferson, Madison,
Patrick Henry and the Randolphs. As we have already remarked, however, the
limits of this chapter will not admit of the introduction of additional
testimony from either of the old or of the new slave States.
The reader will not fail to observe that, in presenting these solid
abolition doctrines of the South, we have been careful to make such
quotations as triumphantly refute, in every particular, the more specious
sophistries of the oligarchy.
The mention of the illustrious names above, reminds us of the fact, that
the party newspapers, whose venal columns are eternally teeming with
vituperation and slander, have long assured us that the Whig ship was to
be steered by the Washington rudder, that the Democratic barque was to
sail with the Jefferson compass, and that the Know-Nothing brig was to
carry the Madison chart. Imposed upon by these monstrous falsehoods, we
have, from time to time, been induced to engage passage on each of these
corrupt and rickety old hulks; but, in every instance, we have been basely
swamped in the sea of slavery, and are alone indebted for our lives to the
kindness of Heaven and the art of swimming. Washington the founder of the
Whig party! Jefferson the founder of the Democratic party! Voltaire the
founder of Christianity! God forbid that man's heart should always
continue to be the citadel of deception--that he should ever be to others
the antipode of what he is to himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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