A. Woodward

“ Justice and humanity never yet found a place in their moral code. It looks well in them to talk about oppression in other lands; but so it is the world over. Men as vile as crime can make them, will arrogate to themselves the right to judge and censure others. The history of England for centuries past, is but a record of crime—of wars, butcheries and bloodshed—rapine, injustice, oppression and inhumanity. But she will talk about negro slavery in the United States notwithstanding—and of liberty, and justice, and truth, and righteousness, and the rights of man! ”

“ Mother England furnished her American colonies with slaves, and pocketed the money, and now she tells us, that we have no right to that property which she forced on us, when we were a weak and defenceless people, and could not do otherwise than obey her commands. The eagle eyed, shrewd, and sagacious Yankees, ever alive to all that pertains to their own pecuniary interests, with that keen-witted penetration and over-reaching foresight, for which they are remarkable, soon made the discovery, that slave labor in a Northern latitude, and on a comparatively barren soil, must prove unproductive. ”

“ Several millions of fellow beings in our midst, not one in twenty of whom can read the Holy Bible! And yet it is our boast, that we are the most enlightened nation under the sun—the most virtuous and intelligent people under the canopy of heaven—a nation of Christians. God help us; for when I reflect on these things, I cannot avoid asking myself, is there any probability, that we shall ever get our eyes open, and help ourselves? It is the duty of every slaveholder to instruct his slaves so far as to enable them to read the Bible ”

“ How is it then, that she has been, and is to the present time, making ceaseless and untiring efforts to exaggerate the sufferings and the disabilities of the African race in our midst, while there is so much suffering and oppression among her own subjects? Is it not an, extraordinary circumstance, that a nation who has expended so much blood and treasure in invading the rights of others—a nation that to the present hour tolerates and legalizes slavery in its worst possible forms—or rather, in every possible form; should affect so much solicitude about its extinction in a foreign government? ”

“ Can moral obligation, a sense of duty, the dictates of conscience, overcome that instinctive passion of the human soul, the love of gain? Oh! the love of money, that mighty leveller of power, the golden serpent that beguiles us to transgress the laws of God, to disregard the rights of man, and to burst asunder the common ties of humanity, which were designed in the wisdom and beneficence of the adorable Creator to bind us all together—the world, every member of the human family of all nations, kindred, and tongues, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, into one common brotherhood. ”

“ But in the eyes of abolitionists, it is dreadful to whip a slave for so small an offense; and yet they would stand by, and with exquisite pleasure see a white man hanged for the same crime. Kind souls! what a pity that white men could not come in for a share of their sympathies; but they have none for them; it is all for the woolly heads. But really, I should like to know what becomes of their sympathies, when some poor free negro is taken sick in their midst, and starves, and dies, and rots in his filth! ”

“ The African is constitutionally indolent and improvident. Work he will not, so far as he is able to avoid it, nor will he economize what falls into his hands, I do them no injustice. I appeal to facts. Look at the condition of the free negroes, North and South! Look at Africa—behold the African race the world over, and then tell me from whence come their universal poverty, ignorance and degradation. The African possesses none of that sensitiveness—that acuteness of sensibility—that delicacy and refinement of taste, which characterize the white race. ”

“ Stowe asserts that there are no laws in slave States to protect slaves, and to punish the cruel and brutal outrages of masters. That masters can cruelly beat their slaves, and also murder them with impunity! This is untrue—nothing could be more false. In the eye of the law, there is no difference between the man that murders his slave, and the man that murders his neighbor; and the laws not only punish men for cruel and unnecessary punishment inflicted on slaves, but there are penal statutes against the unnecessary and barbarous abuse and destruction of horses, and other species of property. ”

“ I resided forty-four years in the Southern States, and it is with pride that I record the fact, that a Southern gentleman would dispose of anything—everything—carriages, horses, stocks, tenements and lands, before he would dispose of such servants as Uncle Tom, and his wife's maid-servant's child, and thereby break his wife's heart. No! far be it from Southern men; their wives are their all; and far be it from them, to say or do aught in opposition to the will of their wives, anything that will deeply mortify or afflict them. ”

“ Negro novels, village gossip, busy-bodies, idlers, loafers and liars, Slavery is not an evil under all circumstances. It would have proved a blessing to the slaves, if masters and servants had complied with the requisitions of the Bible. None so much to blame as abolitionists. The condition of an individual may be such, that he is fit for nothing but a slave, The evil consists in the incompetence of the individual, and not in that condition or station in life, to which his incompetency subjects him. Hence, the evils of slavery have their origin in its abuses, The African in his native state. ”

“ I would point to the catalogue of crimes—the commotions, the dissentions, the tumults, the strife—the envy, the jealousy, the hatred—the wars, the butcheries and bloodsheds, that have been incited by visionary, bigoted, fanatical religionists. I would inculcate the fear and love of God; the love of our country, and the love of our neighbor as paramount virtues; and meekness, gentleness and patience, as Christian graces of the first importance; and resignation to the will of God, and obedience and submission to civil authorities, as the duty of all good citizens. ”

“ There is another point of view, in which slavery must be viewed by every patriot, as a national curse. I allude to the agitation and sectional hatred, which it engenders. This is a grievous misfortune. It is folly to attempt to conceal the fact, that it has originated sectional jealousy and prejudice, which endangers the perpetuity of the Union. This is a serious view of the subject, and it demands the sober consideration of every friend of this glorious Union. The Union must be preserved; should be the motto of every one who has a spark of patriotism in his breast. ”

“ Had not the free states relinquished all right to interfere with slavery in the slave states, no union of the slave and free states could ever have taken place. The right to hold slave property, and to manage, control, and dispose of that property in their own way, and at their own discretion, was secured to the slave states by a solemn contract between the slave and non-slaveholding states, and that contract binds every individual in this nation, North and South. ”

“ Listen to the soothing and affectionate tones of this amiable lady, and behold the happy, joyful countenance, of this aged African. Cast your eyes around the splendid mansion, and behold the indiscriminate groups of white and black children, chattering, skipping, jumping, wrestling or rolling over the fine Turkey carpet. If freedom was tendered to these aged slaves, what think you, would they accept it? No, they would spurn the offer with indignation. They are happier than their masters or mistresses, and they well know it. ”

“ How does it happen that the African population are so little benefitted or influenced by them? Is it true, that the negroes have discernment enough to see, that their wordy benefactors have done nothing for either their souls or their bodies—that conscience and religious principle have but little to do with all this slavery agitation? It must be so! Hence, we can understand why it is, that the African population have more confidence in a slaveholding ministry in the South, than they have in an abolition ministry in the North. ”

“ Worse sinners than ourselves could not be found upon this terrestial globe—among all the degenerate sons and daughters of Adam. When we had well nigh given up in despair, we again directed our eyes to the dark picture of African slavery. "Oh!" said we, to ourselves, "how it would soothe and tranquilize our troubled consciences, if we could but find worse sinners than ourselves." "We know that we are vile and depraved, but are not those slaveholders, a little worse than we are?" ”

“ I am loathe to wound the feelings of any one, but a practice so well calculated to corrupt the church of Christ, so contrary to the spirit of Christianity, must and shall be exposed. It is thus that men are frequently drawn into churches, by appeals to the worst passions and propensities that characterize the human heart. By appeals to their cupidity! their love of fame! their love of power! By touching the mainspring or the root of all evil—love of money! ”

“ I allude to you, who profess to be the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus—you, who take the Bible for the man of your council—you, who profess to be the servants of that God who is no respector of persons—you, who profess to be under the influence of that religion which recognizes every man as a brother beloved, for whom Christ shed his precious blood.
I beg leave to impress on your minds the solemn truth, that your slaves are human beings of like passions, feelings, and propensities as yourselves; that they have immortal souls ”

“ Aid a worm of the dust, O God, to plead the cause of humanity. "Paul may plant, and Apollos may water," but thou, O God, "must give the increase." Thou knowest that in vain I admonish my Southern brethren, unless thy Spirit attends the warnings and admonitions herein given. May thy Spirit attend this little volume in its Southern tour. Give the hearing ear, and the understanding heart. May they hear, and give ear; and not only hear and give ear, but may they "work, while it is called day, for the night cometh, when no man can work." ”

“ Slaveholders are called murderers, because in a few rare instances, a slave may have been worked to death; and they denounced as cruel and oppressive task-masters, because probably one in five hundred, under peculiar circumstances, may have been guilty of cruelty to his slaves. The same thing occurs everywhere, the world over. And it occurs as frequently in Yankeedom, the hot-bed of abolitionism, infidelity, and wooden nutmegs, as anywhere else, There are more white men and white women worked to death in the North, than there are slaves worked to death in the South. ”

“ Sympathy for the African race, the object of Mrs. Stowe's book—right and proper, if properly directed, but blindfold sympathy not likely to result in any good, Slaves of the South proper objects of sympathy—so are their masters. Uncle Tom's Cabin, a gross misrepresentation, Is it right for Mrs. Stowe to present slaveholders, en masse, to the whole civilized world, as a set of hell-deserving barbarians? No good can result from misrepresentation. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." ”

“ Indigence and ignorance subject men to oppression in all countries, and under all circumstances, it matters not whether you call them slaves or freemen. There is oppression and injustice everywhere. It originates in the supreme selfishness of our natures—our self-love. It was the original design of Christianity to eradicate this principle from the human heart. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." ”

“ Whoever is incompetent to take care of himself, is fortunate indeed, when he finds a competent individual, who, will perform that office for him. Show me a nation who are so debased by vice and ignorance, that they are incapable of self-government, and you show me a nation who ought to be ruled by a king or an emperor. Show me an individual, who is incompetent to provide for, and take care of himself, and you show me an individual whose happiness would be augmented by subjecting him to a humane man. ”

“ They spurn them from their presence, or trample them under their feet, and turn around and wipe their mouths, and express the deepest sympathy for the poor slave in the Southern States; whose conditions are incomparably better than the free negroes, North! Ah! their benevolent souls are overflowing with sympathy for Southern slaves, who are generally well fed, well clothed, content and happy; but the poor, vicious, degraded and friendless free negroes, North, are left to shift for themselves. ”

“ The Yankees say to the Southern planters, gentlemen, you can employ these slaves profitably in the cultivation of tobacco and cotton. Your climate and soil is adapted to slave labor, ours is not, take our slaves, and let us have in return, gold and silver. It will be a profitable investment on your part, and will relieve us of a species of property, which, to us, is unprofitable. The Southern planters accept their offer and purchase their slaves, and what next? The Yankees turn around and say to the Southern men, you have no right to hold these slaves as property. ”

“ Masters are responsible for the maintenance of their slaves under all circumstances; in infancy and old age, in sickness as well as in health. But as soon, as Northern white slaves become incapacitated for labor, they are suffered to lie down in their filth and starve and die. Where then, are their lords and masters, who have grown wealthy from the proceeds of their labor?
Mrs. Stowe may write about slavery to her heart's content; but has she, or any one else, pointed out to us, any fair, open, practicable system of emancipation? ”