Mt. Vernon Democratic banner (Mount Vernon, Ohio : 1853), 1862-07-01

              -;"M rmiius iriiT.tmtMT lonna t OOee la T7odwar4 IUoc1k d Story. TB&!L Two DolWa per aonam. Trablein d rno; f3.(0 within six moatlu; $3.00 XUr the expi- nuw oi me je&r. or on. D. T7. Yoorhees, OF, INDIANA. The Spirit and Eloquence of Patrick Henry Bevived I C PUBLIC DEBT NOW 1,0M,00W00. , I preaume, sir, that at this time no cm can, accurately, estimate the amount of our public debt. It ie bne of the eril eigne of the times that either from confusion and incapacity, or " from the shrinking dread of recognizing an appalling truth, we hare an unsual silence in : official quarters in regard to the extent of OoTernment liabilities. - We are, however, Ireliered in a great measure upon that, point, . trr tue statements wnicn bare been made from .time to time upon this floor, and: especially - by the Chairman of the Committee of Wave mild Means, Hr. Stevens, who has a right u spesK on mat snoject as one in auinority. From that source we learn that our expendi tures nave, for many months past, exceeded .the sum,, daily, of $3,000,000. That our in debtedness at this moment is equal to that vast amount will hardly be denied by any intelligent and candii person who has bad the opportunity to observe the profusion and reck a lessness with which the resources and the credit of Government have been used since this most unnatural strife fell like a blight upon, the land. PUBLIC DEBT AT THE END OF THE WAR TWO THOUSAND MILLIONS. it s saie, men, to conclude that the year thatie to come, and on which we are just entering the second year of the war will swell the indebtedness of this Government to the alarming sum of $2,000,000,000. This .amount will have accrued about the time the toiling citizen is fairly called upon to; com mence the weary task of meeting his awful proportions by taxation. . It is a task, sir, tli.it no eye which now beholds the sun will ever see completed. The child; is not born, and will not be for more than a hundged years, who will escape the visits of the Federal tax gatherer in the incessant labors of future generations to wear awav bv the steadv droDnin? of a perpetual tax this mountain of debt. Thw is no high-wrought or extra vajrent state ment, but the sad and melancholv truth, as each succeeding year-of the approaching fu-" ture will but too truly bear witness. It is said, however, here and elsewhere throughout the country, that we are a nation of inexhaustible resources, almost fabulous wealth, and that burdens which would caus? other Government to reel and stagger are as Jiht as . feathers ; to u. This is a pleasing triiJiWatw-aatjsiiaJ 'anUy;XL jsOuvda well i a "Sr ei(pp)aeen t-ie3rpT,We-4 ' fS lasg edited ia happiness "oter all other people, so long blessed ' in every enjoyment above what God has ever vouchsafed to any other nation, that we are even now unwilling or unable to realize the fact that the hand of affliction has at last fallen iioii u with a force almost as cruel as that which visited Je rusalem when Titus was encamped before her wans, it is true, however, that we abound in wealth. It is true that our lap has been filled with treasure; but things in this world exist principally by comparison. That which constituted immense wealth a little more than a year ago, in view of a public debt ofleps ' than fifty millions, dwindles rapidly when brought to bear-on a debt forty times that amount.' '"" ' EVERY SIXTH ! HORSE, SHEEP, HOG AND DOLLAR PLEDGED TO PAY THE DEBT. By the census report of 18C0 we find that the assessed value of all the real and personal property of the entire United States, both loyal and rebellious, is $12,006,756,585, Thus it will be seen that our public debt is now equal to one-twelfth of atttne taxable' property of the Government,-and that in, one year ' from, now it will be equal to one sixth of everything the people possess. No cunning and studied speeches made to mislead and deceive can bde the, naked fact that this is the people's debt, and they will have to pay. Every sixth acre of land, every sixth ox, every sixth horse, every sixth sheep, every sixth hog, and every sixiu aoiiar, under tue nnanciai mis management and fraud of the party now in power, wilL in one year from to-aay, . be cov ered and swallowed up by the amount of the Government debt. It will be equal to an interest on every taxable substance in the land of sixteen-and two . thirds . per cent. Every businessman knows that in the private transaction of life such a rate of interest is theeieedy prelude to' individual ruin - in him' who pays it: and the nation oa which such a weight is imposed.. i on the brink of overwhelming bankruptcy. In this estimate it will be.seen : that I have taken the figures of the , census re port a they were made when, the uurumed calm of peace and prosperity gave to property ita highest aloe. To. what extent . the ravages of war Jiave. depreciated this value it is imposstble to calculate; but that the properly: of the people: of the. United States' is to-day worth more than two-thirds of . what ' i was one year, ago,, will not , be pretended; and to the extent of that depreciation is the proportion which the public debt bears to it increas- - 'd....r'- -;l'0': . '!' ' . 1 ' ' , I-.' . 'j- jCHB; AMOUNT UPON EACH PERSON $400. v" - Bat gain. ,By the . census report; ; from whieh I have just quoted. j we : fin( that -the ropulation of h:Uaited 8tates. . in : the 186A.WU little, mora than thirty millions " Of this populatioa about five, millions aretf to- lera. . A.- moment a ieaicalation in the Mm-; nleat rules of arithmetic , shows- that each in dividual voter Of these five .millions is in debt to-day $200 on account of his. proportion.; ofl th Bauooai cxpeass, and that one year, bence he will be ia debt oa;!thei same aeoobaL Ts liability of my .own great State of India-: oa according to the Tula i of taxation which hast been enacted against her. by the, preaent pgrtaa,wl U $I(?0.000,OCOW- of vwhfchr,:- ormoos sum the people -of the district which I have -tbt 1 honor . to --rfftfesent will atand ; charged with tomethicg over tirclTa toiUiana oraouarwyai f, ti ivT.i jA8S4 CURKUPT10N WORSE THAN THAI OF - vans " eTiiS E0jJXQS3 ORBIUAlTS A"; ! T7here, slr, in all the dreary history-of cro Jlat oatloas were ever such, burdena as these jlmposed oa the shoulders of. ainr -people; '.ja so thortff time t. . Tjhe rtourptnj. children of Ia- rt-ayvi fcjwr uv fi . vrica.- ryaras or. iZzrvL .srtxa: scarcely nore alay'es,, to there rWptin ,'pifteri tlaa t!. American ,jre-!9 wjiLbe to th consUat',ii.:-manis and. exi-'f tbn 'oMhe jDiUoaal debt; ' It wilf corns upoa jthez44)lke thj lean and huajry kine mio froalhs 'rlfV tt of Pharoah'adream to1 devour , the well fa-bored and fat-fleshed cattle of all the land. Tell them not of the blessings of a public debt. That cry' is simply the cheat and the falsehood by which men who have abused their authority seek to cover ep the outrages which they have inflicted on confiding people. It is as old, too, as . crime in high places, or the principle of base cupidity in the ' heart of ; man. .- ' 7 ' HOW ARE 400,004,000 YEARLY EXPENSES TO , BE PAID? w e seeic to taKe retuge, sir, irom the enor mous figures of our national indebtedness whenever they are brought to our attention, in the fact that we can defer its payment, and bequeath it as an inheritance to coming, gen erations. Admitting that this unworthy thing may to some extent be done, yet let us see, for a few momenta, what amount of money this Government will be compelled annually to raise in order to prevent open ana confessed bankruptcy before the world. I wul content myself with a specific statement of the vari ous items of current yearly expenses that must be regularly met. Against the substantial correctness of this statement I. challenge suc cessful contradiction. ine interest on tne public debt, at a verv low estimate, iiuu.uuu.uw. The ordinary expenses of the Government, includinz aDDroDriations for the increased magnitude of the army and navy after the war is over, will reach 150,000,000, at another low estimate. I am especially warranted in fixing this amount, In view of the declaration on this floor, by the Chairman of the Com mittee on Military Affairs, (Mr. Blair, of Missouri,) that hereafter our peace establishment will consist of a standing army of a hundred thousand men. The pension list comes next." This Government must not fail to meet the requirements of ci vilization and humanity. It must and will provide for the support of its maimed and wounded, and for the maintenance pf widows and orphans of those who have fallen on the field of battle, 'or been stricken down bvdisease while in the public service. It is of course difficult to calculate the amount which will required to meet this item of expense ; but no well informed person will pretend that it will be less than the sum of $100,000,000. To the above must be added at least $50,-000,000 more as a margin for claims against the Government, contingent expenses, and unforeseen events during this convulsive and unsettled period of the world's history. : We have thus an inevitable annual expenditure, without making anv provision whatev er for the payment of the public debt itself, of the sum of $400,000,000. Thi amount will make its demands on the resources of the peo ple in each suceeding year, as regularly as the seasons come and go, and in a voice as imper ative and inexorable as the cry of fate. You need not avert your frightened gaze from the sore contemplation of this terrible fact. It is the lion in the pathway of the future, but it must be met. Death itself is not more "certain to all'than is this monstrous annual burden on the shoulders of the American people. And now, sir. bearing this fearful fact in mind, from which there is now no escape, the ques tion necessarily arises with immense, overr whelming force, as to what system of finance shall be adopted to raise annually this mon strous sum of monev. It is the vital question of the day. and. paramoaa4ia..Alt others save civil liberty and republican government.. THE -GREAT 'WEST OPPRESSED BY AN OPPRESSIVE TARIFF. I live, Mr. Speaker, in a land of corn in a land where the fruits of the earth constitute the reward of labor. I li ve in a great valley, beside whose agricultural wealth the famed valleys of the Euphrates and the Nile, and the richest fields of Europe sink into utter insignificance, and whose more than Egyptian granaries invite the markets of the civilized world. The plow, the harrow, the reaper and the threshing machine are our implements of industry, arid compose the coat-of arms of our nobility. The soil is our fruitful mother, and we are her children. We fill our cribs with grain, and stock our pastures with cattle, and with these we seek to purchase those other necessary articles of life which are not made in our midst, these are our possessions, which we offer in. barter and exchange with the trading merchants of the world who gire us the best returns. This we conceive to be our right, and that the Government in which we live should protect us in its enjoyment. But tarn to the contemplation of another region of the country: You there behold the land of manufacturing machinery, and hear the sound of the loom and the spindle. The people of the North and East make fabrics or doth, and manufacture all those article which man needs and which do not grow. These constitute their wealth and their stock of mer-candise for trade. The markets of the world are open to them and of right ought to be. The West is an immense consumer of those articles whieh they have ' to sell. We are willing to buy them of our own choice, if we can buy there as cheap as we can elsewhere. But I here aver that the unequal and unjust system of finance now adopted by the party in power, gives to the vast manufacturing interest of this country the arbitrary power to fix its own exhorbitant prices, and the laboring agriculturist is. compelled to pay them. To this no people can submit. Against this outrage the people of the West will cry out. You have fastened upon this country the most odious system of tariff on imported goods that ever paralysed the energies of a nation, or oppressed its agricultural citizens. You say by that tariff that the manufacturing institutions ot this country shall not be brought in com petition with those of other parts of the world. You say that our porta shall be closed to foreign traders for fear they will ; undersell the manufacturer of New , England, or the ironmonger of Pennsyl van ia. You reauire of the European merchant a duty, which he. cannot pay and thus you banish him from our commercial intercourse. --You say to the western farmer, to agriculturist- everywhere, that there shall -be but one market in which 4bey may buy. .-YoQ drive thefn . tx the- counters and foundries' of men whom you protect in 'a monopoly of the sales which, they may make; ou ao an tuts lor the soie ana .avowed, rea son that foods from' abroad can . be sold ! here cheaper than thejr can be mads, and sold by our own citizens, and thai a ' protection Uauat J&&,higb$n'. ; fivery 'schooi bo in political science knows who pays this Increase jtt'W i Need; I, at this period ; of! American hry.discuarths operations of a high Wo- ..juuv. . wr, taoneiorthet- L ty. years ago i 'wasTatrTt tried:'anrf iK'J ,can peppie; passea an intelligent r verdict 6ft IUIIV ti tcpudiatedf as 'an1 uaiir an ruinous system Ifany Idaestion was ever, iu tha historv of tif. governmeuV distinctly tried before a tribunal tnore'orensive and wjurjoui to the jtruarIn;ter-' wn 01 a proiecuT? yaria, j.a tQuntrTtg ptre'i vby its. reudiitlon.j'iind. Ahs'.abofer re? - h' t ere' h ! j n o n ey T wo c 14 buy ' too g ti llut this icU3'h3 a- in'mefl. and in a'sliat present tariff ia one ' which' no party in Ihe past-would have sanctioned. ' It would hare alarmed the old Whig party as much as any other, ny its . stringent ana prohibitory Tea tares. - It goes far beyond what was; deemed wise jar prudent bv the strongest protectionists 01 lormer ojgn lann periods.: jina now aiiow me .to state some 01 its specinc practical oper ations as a part of the .financial policy of the present hour. ; .. , y . .; .; A PROHIBITORY TARIFF ROBS BOTH THE THE LABORER AND THE GOVERNMENT. it forces the laboring man, the consumer, the farming classes generally, to pay for man ufactured articles, which embrace a large por tion of the necessities of lire, an increased price over their proper value, - and over ;' that for which they can elsewhere be bought, of from forty to one hundred per cent. Thus a tax of most' fearful rate is levied on the branch of industry, not to support the Government, but to contribute as a gratuitous donation to a privileged and favored business. That is the first extortionate species of taxation which meets us in the examination of this subject. It is one which at any time would fall - with oppressive cruelty on a large majority of the people of the country ; but, at a time like this, when the government itself in claiming almost the entire substance of the land for its maintenance, no language can be found sufficiently strong with which to characterize the enormity of such a policy. In the next place the present tariff robs the government of a much-needed revenue by keeoinsr imported eoods from our shores. Tin- M D der its operations during the past year, accor ding to a statement made a few weeks Since in tne British Parliament by the Chancellor of the English Exchequer, our importation from Great Britain alone have fallen off to the amount of $85,000,000. . The report of the finances of our own government for the year ending June 30, 1861, shows a loss in our receipts arising from customs during the first three months after this tariff went into operation of over ten millions of dollars, as compared with the receipts during a similar peri od a year previous. Under the tariff of 184Q. a revenue to support the government was sought by liberal terms of trade with foreign nations, and richly obtained. The rule is now reversed, and for the unworthy purpose of "protection, a class of business -which ought to sustain itself or be abandoned, this great fountain of pecuniary support to Hie nation is dried up. It no longer flows into the Treasury, and the money which is thus diverted from the public to private and individual benefit has to be replaced under this Administration by direct and specific taxes on fhe; people. Thus taxation grows and augments its alarm ing proportions, in order that the interests of a select and favored few may be cherished and promoted. TAXATION NOT FAIR ONE CITIZEN PLUNDERED TO ENRICH ANOTHER. But the manner in which this taxation is to be levied, and in which it is to affect the different interests of the country, exceeds all the preceding features of criminal outrage on those who live by producing from the soil. By the provisions of the tax bill which recently passed this House, a tax of three per cent, ad valorem is laid upon all articles of manufacture in the hands of the manufacturer. It is estimated that there will thus be raised fifty millions of dollars of (he annual income arising from taxation." Thirthe manufacturing Interest is to pay for the support of the Government, and the airs of patriotism which are assumed ia consequence are eminently characteristic. But inasmuch as this manufacturing interest is guarded by a Morrill tariff from all competition in selling, and strictly protected in increasing its' prices of sale to its forced customers to an almost unlimited extent, will any one, in his simplicity, pretend; that the three per cent, wherewith it is taxed, the fifty millions which it has to pay, will not be charged up to the buyer when its goods are sold? The tariff and taxation are kindred measures, born of a common origin, and, like leashed hounds, hunt for their innocent prey coupled together. The tariff stands guard over the interests of the manufacturer, while taxation hunts for every other substance in the land on which to fasten its fangs. And if, for the sake of appearance, the manufacturing : interest is menuonea in a mix uhi, mc utnu iepo forward and enables its cherished friends to recover back every dollar which they are assessed by raising the price of the woolen clothes, the linens, the muslins, the calicoes, the plowshares, and the implements of husbandry, and the articles of daily necessity which the Amer ican Government forces its citizen to buy of its protected monopolists, ; This is the culmination, the climax of wrong. A Government which plunders one citizen to enrich - another needs the strong, stern hand of reform on its helm, v.;---' ' Though perfect equality should prevail in meeting the immense taxation which is coming like a mountain avalanche upon this people, yet it will be born amid sorrow and weary pain ; but when it shall all fall virtually on a given class of citizens, it will become an - in tolerable suffocating nightmare of ruin and of death, i challenge the attention of the country that such is the working of the present system, which it is pretended has been adopted for the support of the Government. . Already we see its effects. The great mauufac taring corporations of tbe East are crowding their hloated pockets with rapid and' gigantic gainst Their dividends of profits are swollen', some thirty, -some sixty; and some an hundred fold. This is no random statement, but is sustained by the statistics before me, . It is ' a fact, .too, of whieh the whole country has ta-Ven cognizance. -;. ... - ; ; , '.;. .'. - THE WEST TRAMPLED UPON AND HER IN-i i . TERESTS OUTRAGED. : : ,: r Sir, no sectional boundaries to my love -nf; cou n try jwom pts these remarks.' ' I cal I God to witness with what devotion-1 love every sod, rock and riyer every mountain, prairie arid forest of -my native land. - For its' happiness and glory it would be sweet and honorable to die,- I reckon -t.o" section of it above another. . -Jt is allcalike to .rne,TaalJri dear and hallowed h j . the t. principles, "of cfinstituUonal liberty' ,JJt Ipeak in the iam.: iaf justice. whieh is every where. presentT-inhe uamf , ofl tcniju.piia, ineriean equa i wy ana : i , asx yQuv.Mmploro.yppvto look at the coaditida xif i the.;, Western people- .Theif.interesta, far9 been abandoned pn. this oor by' more thab naii, inejr jtifpreseniatires, ana they stand today ;bearinr rthe ,hard tnint pf te: pitiless storm, which, has burst from, the anzry sky th,ey,,r ph9Cim2fWi.iMlt ajiiar:e'U;,for a v t . s wwn r , . i -. - - -,- - mm ueir. proauce. K Aueir uatuxaf , cnanqew; m l trade to the South are closed bv. the . imnioua hand of war. and their avenuea to the markets fiibi$Qrfh:itr4 obf trusted .hy ft.'.Avsrica f raiiroaas.'. t cosw sixty cents i to jreinta bushel of com fromih,o l7.abash riyet io New York, and lea ves .frottt seven, to fourteen cents to. the lana.jrhd.uaacanaed itlo grow.jiad gathered it Jru.as thf reward of his toil, j For rything Isa haeceircs thVsame , bear'ly return.';- And y?t who has lei up hia vol :s here; ia behalf of : that rcit, that hones't-'tr 1 cprressed jWlaf'V Vher'U Aibir rf-f - j, Uilrt ia tV Corar-lites cfr'J9 keI'-JII. . s tat gr6desp6UoeouaiaiUee wLica. raatnrva Ottawa nf taxtS; cf -taxation:, ai cfCaiaci, I. and whose decrees on this .floor' arel'? ias unal terable as the laws of th ;2Xede and Per- sians? On that' commit tee; -which speaks the yoice. of Jate for the weal or woe of the " taxpayers of all the land, the great imperial d& main of the' West from the feet of . the - Alleghany Mountains to -the Faeifio ocean, has had no member daring this knpoi tant session. Blotr after blow has fallen oa her, naked head, and nOw she stands exposed U the payment of four-fifths of all the burdena which thia Government has ' to bear. 1 speak' advisedly. She has been trampled underfoot. ' Her rights have been disregarded. Shehas ; been, plundered for the .benefit of others. , And from here I call upon her to vindicate herself, to assert her equality,;to resist oppression, to score the tribute which she is called upon to pay to a branch of industry which God .and aatore never intended, should export, to demand from ' her Government the same jprotection which others obtain, and tq'reckon . with her oppressors at 'the ballot-box .As for' me, I shall join in no such system of injustice, inequality, and wanton extortion against the people whose interests hate becb confided to my care in this Hodse.--1 shall , resist it in all constitutional methods, and denounce it everywhere ; and in doing so I ahall perform - what I.conceive to be one of thellnghest duties of honest, fearless patriotism ' ; ' ALL DONE FOR t lEGRO. - . I might here stop, Mr! Speaker, and rest this great subject with ths-American people. The vast debt, and the unparalleled fraud by which it has been accumulated, together with the iniquitous mode of assessing taxes on the wealth and labor of the country, are all before them.V But the political party now in the ascendancy in the executive-and legislative departments of- this Government, have never considered any measure of policy on any sub ject complete or perfect unless it embraced a connection, however unnatural, with the African race, unfortunately inf large numbers on this continent. These are atrange days that have come upon us. We have all lived to see the abolition of slavery become a . pecuniary question and the abolition party become a direct tax upon the pockets of .the people. The Federal tax-gatherer will visit every house in the land in the next six mor ths for money to carry out ita schemes.' ' e midst of a'war more expensive than the mt i ever witnessed before; with an army r and aavy costing us more than the . armies . or ngland, rrance, Austria and Kussia combine of plunder deep in the sacw tional Treasury; with the taxation, like the gaunt ant' of famine, hunting for the,' Ces of a laborious people, wring an income; with ma depressed, bankruptcy ca shadow on the horizon of f may gathering in the faces? this nation this, sir,1 is' tf startle us with a deliberate proposal to purchase with l the slave population of the ident of the United States ; 1 with the hand vaults of the na- tungrv spirit pf psatiate specter nallest substan-iut of which to tts closed, prices Og its . appalling i future, and dis- .? the yeomen of (time chosen to ad most earnest Xiey and set free, with. The Pres-d both branches Chave solemnly "the face of its of the American Congre pledged this Government i own citizens, and before the the nations of the. earth, to ' if their owners will selt'th? lions of slaves, which-'are 1 entive gaze of jr and liberate a tire four mil-' In the South- Lis the Dledsre. and it stands redordej-by avot"oT thia Ilouse, by a vote of the oenate, and by the approval of the President who amazed the country- in its zealous recommendation. It is now a part of the financial policy of the present Administration, made so by a full party expression. Nor has it been barren of fruits even thus early. The slaves of the District of Columbia have already been hought by a forced and and unconstitutional sale, and 'over one million of dollars appropriated from the earnings of the people to pay for them. This act of fanaticism fixes the meaning which the authors of this pledge attach to the phrase "pecuniary aid." It has received a severely practical illustration, and the doubting mind is set at rest. THE COST OF EMANCIPATION. : But if anything further was needed to convince the tax -payer of the designs of Abolitionism, I have it before me. I hold in my hand a pamphlet of twelve pages, written by Daniel K. Goodloe, an office-holder under this Administration, evidently a man of ability, but unfortunately led astray by a spurious philosophy and a mistaken philanthropy on the subject of slavery. He warmly and ably espouses the .policy of the President, and makes the following statement of the cost of that policy to the American people: . " I have shown what the compensation to the border States would be at two different rates of payment per capita for the slaves, and it will have been seen that I have favored the more liberal scale. I now proceed to show what would be the cost of redeeming the whole slave population of the Union at the same' rates. . ,-:' .. "'By the census of last year there -were 3,-652,801 slaves in the United States and Territories. I have already shown that 454,441, which belonged to the border States, would be worth at $250 each, $113,610,250 and at $300 each, $136,33200. The remains to be disposed of, therefore,'. 3,498,360 slaves embraced in the country subject to the rebels, but including, of course, large- .numbers belon ging . to the friends -of the Union, who have been con strained into obedience to' the rebel authori ties against their wills. As the lowest estimated average vald' of: $250 these Slaves of the rebels woul4. be worth $874,590,000, an4 adding the compensation toHbe border States,' 00 the same terms; the sggregate coat to the Government would be wortn. f 1,049,508,000; and adding the cost of compensation to the border States, at the same rate, the aggregate expense Of emancipation would be $i;iH5,84O,300. Or for the 'convenience :of round numbera,i the cost of emancipation-would - be at- $250 'per Jbead, $000,000,000, and at $300 her head, the cost would, he $1,200.000,000.;" ' ' --'; - -'c '-'These are the figures 'mada- oy an- ardent friend: ofl thesystmv who- is .jiow-j era ployed, by appointment of the President, in assessing the value of -the alavea . thia- District. Sir, IxiaroJromijthem;.wfth horror cannot linger over them. I hand themr over to the white .sons -of .toil. throughout the 'land, and calijip-on them 16 consider well 'the 18400'' which they ieach. " Th 'Pharisees of eirh teeV hun dred yearwaeos -provoked thn.medictiohsr:bf th Jjavioar by tbeii nteperaUiT aQduliypar critical .seal jo the ' affairs , pf others people ; and ft portion: the citizensi&f the orthl in the contemplation of; ihe aloveffgurfs,'r uaf find a curse "upon an exactly eTmilar Offense. which will prevent Jta commissionunithelTu-J vmv. , AuuiiMuuiBoi uaa uoverea ,a our oeav-ens Jiko an-angel of death,-and from jta win Las shaken: 'pestilence and waraad uowike a grizzly .terror., it comes to -every , household for .every.; tea th of the fruits of ihe earth; and theCocia of theJEelJ.' "Xike the fierce locusts c f r'TF V U eoraes toL devour "cur -trreea", Eelda and Li; 1 cur colis t ;ryc:'C7;U coaes' ,Vaa nonce.i.cy ix-a. I'rtz.l 2 zl, rr. . eaaciine J ry tzn. ut'- .&r l3.si-rc ef .ttrkinedia-aJ..cp-pressed iudusirj will' submit loita nvtzio'cs and illegal demands. . "T"1 1 A LETTim OX SUYEEY. It ia Vmdicatecl by the Bible-A Be ; markable iDociiment. ; -i. ' " ' e "i- " ' ' " ' " " ' The following letterpublished in the '27a-tional ItUclIipcneer, from Amos Kendall, man of learning and ability, who has filled as large a space in our political history as any living man, will be read with Interest t ' - - - " Origin, of Bible Stavery276ak,' Abraham Tk Law of Mo44 Christianity and Sfavery ' ChriX, Jaid Peter, PhiUwionandhU Church. To AaaaHAX Liircour, ...... ; j ;v PretidetUof the United Stately RzsrECTxD Si : In my preceding letters I have endeavored to show that, whether slavery be right or wrong, nobody is responsible for its existence, or has a' right to interfere with it under our political institutions, except the people of the State in 'which it' exists.' My object in this letter ia not to show that slavery ia an useful or desirable institution for our age or country, but that, whatever, may be the abuses to which it is liable, there ia nothing in the institution itself which makes it the duty Of a Christian to seek ita abolition otherwise than by admonishing the slaves to be obedient and faithfnl to their masters, and the masters to be kind and indulgent; to their slaves. '' To this end I shall attempt to prove that slavery ia not ia itself einfvl, by showing from the Bible that it has been sanctioned by God himself, not only by not rebuking it, but by giving it his direct authority. . The first we learn of slavery in the Bible is the curse of Ham or Canaan by Noah Genesis, 9th chapter, 25th. verse : "And he said cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall hS be unto his brethren." Now, . Noah was selected by God to perpetuate the human race, and he was not punished or censured by his Maker for thus dooming a portion of his posterity to perpetual bondage. - In the 17th chapter of Genesis, Terses 12, 13, 23 and 27, the fact that Abraham bought men with his money, is four times recognized. Verse 12 is represented to be the language of God himself speaking to Abraham,: and is in the following words via :. . "And he that is ight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed." : Here is a direct recognition of the fact that Abraham held slaves ; and God, instead of commanding him to set them free, directed him to incorporate them into his own family by the right of circumcision. In the 24th chapter, verse 35, men-servants and maid-servants are named among the "blessings" which God had bestowed upon Abraham. The speaker, who was : himself a servant, said : "And the Lord, hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great ; and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver and gold, and men servant and maid-eervants, and camels and aetes." '. .-. By the 14th chapter, 14th verse, it appears that Abraham had three: hundred and eighteen "trained servants, born in his house," and how many "bought with his money" is not stated--.-. .- ... . . . . .. Now, if buying men with money, and holding them in slavery be a sin, Abraham was in his age one of the greatest of sinners ; yet God, instead of rebuking him and requiring him to put away his sin, not only prospered him, but, on account of . his special faith and holiness, selected him to be the father of His chosen people, and an example for all generations. Could this have happened if slavery had been a sin in the sight of God f It does not appear that the Hebrews held any slaves when they fled out of Egypt, or that they acquired any while wandering in the wilderness. Flying from slavery themselves, they were a new nation without constitution or laws, and all their institutions were-prescribed by God himself, through Hoses. Does any Christian believe that God could or would j prescribe to His chosen people a sinful institution ? Yet God himself established, or expressly recognized slavery as an institution of theHebrew nation. If any one doubts it, let him read the 21st chapter of Exodus, t he 25th chapter of Leviticus, aud the 15th chapter of Lieuteronouiy. The rst six verses of. the first, and the verses from the twelfth to the eighteenth of the last, recognized the right of a Hebrew to buy his own : countrymen . and 'hold them in bondage six years, and prescribe a mode by which,, with their own consent, they may be made bondmen "forever." But the establishment or recognition of perpetual slavery as an institution of the Hebrew Commonwealth is found in the 25th chapter of Leviticus. The leading objects of this .chapter are to establish and regulate the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee. ' The first seven verses provide that every seventh year shall be "a. sabbath of rest unto the land." "Thou 'shall not sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard." r. The sixth verse declares that "the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you ; for thee and for thy"ervdn, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and . for the stranger that so-joumeth with thee." . ..-- - - - '. ..From the eighth verse, inclusive, to the end of the chapter, the main, subject is the jubilee, recurring once in fifty years, and its bearings on the various' interests of thre Hebrew Com-monweath. The tenth' verse is in the following words, via : "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants - thereof;' it shall be a jubilee unto you j and ye shall return every man; hnio his family." ' This passage is often quoted as evidence that slavery ceased among the Hebrews every fifty years, whereas, taking the whole chapter together, it proves '.exactly 'the reverse." In the first place,4He - bohd servant, not a Hebrew; ''never' liad a ' possession to: which "'he eouldr return, In the next placet the .jubilee was aa institution for the, benefit ot the He- ttrews onlv, from which the'bond servants of foreign- blood L:Jare expressly - excluded.'-The 39th' tei43d-t-ersee, incfusi ve reaoV as follows : s ,?4And ifr thy Ibrotber thar dwelletb by thee be waxen ' poor, and Jbe sold .fento thee, , thou shall n.ot compel him to -serve as aboad-ser-vftnl'.IiDtas an , h ired servant, and as ; sift-journey he ahaH be.with thee, and shall eerye thee until theyearjf the jobUeerJsW , r fr??Ad then he iball ;dpart from thee, both he and Jiia-chitdren' frith hiiru and shall rctom untottua:wn.Eniiiyfc and auto the. possession or fits tamers snaj . ne return-; 1 .. n x "For they are my aervanbvwhich.1 brought forth out ofhe landjaf Cyrti .jr.:1 no be sold as. bondmen.r.:T;;:::.r', vi' . .JThou shalt not" rule oyer him with ' tigon but shalt ftarlhyGodV7 1 V; 'V.'Iv.T,; ,Then eome lb 4iih,.45lS, and 2t yersta,. ia theibllowir word 3, Via :'- ;!," ,'. V- : v "."Both', Hiy'-l -ri Inen'ftn'i thy-lrcn-fai't. w Y Trt't It ' V ... .1 I A crt. t,f 3 i-at f rd'-rr"-.J ' ,J " t yoa ; cf 'thenji tltll y-. ar. i tr . t. .,.., t bay bclmea' IJiloreover, of the ci.;.-ien of taeair&r 3 thai do sojourn ajaon; you, cf thea sL.4 y e buy, and of their familiea that are with yon, which: they begat in your land and they shall be your possession. - ' "And ye shall take them as an inbeTitance for your children after jou," to inherit them for a posseaaion t they shall be your bondmen forever r but over your v brethren, the children of Israel, ve shall not rule one over another Is it possible for lan pus re more el earl v to declare that,, while the Hebrew servant was to be set free in the year of jubilee, the bondmen and bondmaids of foreign blood might be held as "bondmen forever 1" . If there were any room for doubt on this subject, it would be solved by the 4th verse of wun ui UVUU9, in W 111 Oil IB prp- vided that ir the master of the Hebrew eer-vaut "have given him a wife and she have borne h im sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her matter's and heshallgo out by himself." But if the husband and father prefer remaining in servitude . with his wife and children, it is provided, - (verse 6, ) that his master shall bring him to the door or unto, the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl ; and he shall serve him forever. - -: It hence appears that when a master had given his Hebrew servant a wife, the wife and children were not to be free with the husband and father, who might; if; he chose remain a servant with them, not to the year of jubilee Only, but "forever." A practical illustration of the meaning of these provisions is found in the 34th chapter of Jeremiah. It seems that the Jews had fallen info the practice of disregarding the law and holding their Hebrew brethren in bondage more thau six years. On being required to com ply with the law they had done so, and set their Hebrew servants free. Afterward, however, they resumed control oyer them and again reduced them to slavery. For this vio lation of the law the prophet denounced against them the most terrible judgments. The crime however, did not consist in holding a Hebrew in bondage six years or the stranger forever ; but holding the Hebrew more than six years. The class of servants to which the crime was confined is explicitly stated ia the 9th verse, as follows,-to-wit : "That every man should let his man-servant, and every maid-servant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free ; that none should serve himself of them, to-wit, of a Jew his brother." r-:- , ; . ' - In Abraham's time the power of the master oyer the slave appears to have been absolute.: nor was it very materially modified by the laws of Moses. Among the regulations which God. prescribed through Moses were the following,; in the 21st chapter of Exodus, 20th and 21st verses, viz : ' ' - - . -' "And if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall surely punished. . Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished vfor he is us money." " ' " ' In the 8me chapter, verse 26 and 27, it is provided that if a master smite out an eye or a tooth of a servant, he shall let him go free. . Under these laws, prescribed by God himself, the Hebrew nation commenced their ca reer. - In a war with the Midianites. mention ed in the 31st chapter of Numbers, they put to death ail their prisoners except 32,000 vir gins, wno wnere reaacea to slavery. Henceforward, during the history of the HeDfewnatidri, the kings, 'princes and" rich men acquired and held slaves under the au thority of God's law given through Moses. Even during their captivity in Babylon many of the Jews held slaves ; for according to Ne- hemiah, chapter 7, verse 67, there were "7,-337 men servants and maid-servants" in the company which returned to Jerusalem under his charge. 1 The Chrjptian Era found the institution of slavery pervading not only Judea, but all the civilized and barbarian world. Did Christ, in a single instance, denounce it as a sin ? 176, not once. On the contrary, he recognizes the relation and the duty of servants to promote the interests of ther masters. ; In the parable of the five talents, in the 25th chapter of Matthew, he that bad received one talent is represented as being punished for not employing it for the benefit of his master. -. But the Christian view of slavery is more clearly developed in the teachings of the Apostles. Says Paul in First Corinthians, 7, 20, 21, 22: j . . . ; v v- "Let every man abide in the same calling in which he was called. Art thou called, being 'a servant ? Care not for it but if thou mayest be made free use it rather, for he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is (he Lord's freeman, likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant." ' In the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th verses of the 6th chapter of Ephesiahs, Paul inculcates the Christian duties of children and parents, and ta en proceeds in the 5th, 6th 7th, 8th, and 9th to teach servants and their masters their Christian duties. Says he f "Servants, be obedient to ihera that are your mastem, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of . your heart as uht9 Christ. . - -v- ! "Not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. . ' " ' - "With good will .doing service - as to the Lord, and not men. : !V . '; "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth t the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. ' "And ye masters do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your Master also is in Heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him.' -; ''''' ' :'' The plain meaning of this passage' ti,r that it is the Christian' duty of" the servant to 'obey and serve his' master with the same ' fidelity and devotion as he would 'serve God and Christ ; or rather that cheerful obedience and faithful service to his master is a portion of -his duty to his God and Savior. ' And masters are instructed to treat their servants kindly. reciprocating their good will, 'and are admonished that in the sight of fod all men 'are equalhatever may be their earth!y! "relatione. - v;r-rJ, V ,':?-;r"; Similar injaDCtiQna -are imposed upon eer- vanta ana masters m' tne third ana tonrtb chapters of Paul's Epistle to the Colossianal In the sixth:hptervof Paul's, First Epistle to Timothy,-Verses -onandllwo the Apostle ..-3r, Let as many servanta , as are; .under the yoKe.countheur i)wn roasters as. worthy, of all honor,. that the earnest God and his doctrin beet blasphemed: ' :42 i.t ,iW i-.t .-? jA&tm pot despise them becausethey are oreth- ren. but rather do them eervkML: because they are faithful and beloved,' partakers of the ben-eSt.' hew'thlhWtekeh and exhort. bnln other wordajrall honor"- to hianaater by a slave ie in accerdance with the!doctriQelaf God, and be is not to bring t;:?tdoctnue Into dUrepute by dlsobedleace or tufcconduct. '? Nor iahe to think leas of his roaster because te CnJs himf i'fon alsvfl with hii la the church, lt 1j ratl.cr to serve him with tne re teal t'.an tver.Jn Ui- r'iU;la to !T5uea;cUp. 24,'r; 0 10, iaul eayat :. . t . ,r,3t-v - "Exhort serraiiU io be hedient utito-tht.r cwn roasters, cad to please thea wtU ;ia all things, sot; .answering again-, net purloiJUBg, but showing all good fidelity, that they may. vlorft the doctrine of God oar Savior in 'ail - .la other words, . tae servant who obeys hur master, and is honest and XaitbfnL "adorns ths, doctrine tf ijfod our'&mer.'l 1 The 1 A postle "Peter, In ' but l int pisue,' - chapter 2, verses 18, 19, and 20, . preaches the same doctrine in still stronger banguage. He says:- .. 5 ; . . "sservanta, be subject to your masters wita all fear; net only to the good" and gentle, but " ahioto the forward, for-this ie thankworthy, if m soan lor conscience toward God, .vndur grief, suffering wrongfully ; for what glory ia it u, wnen ye oe ouneted ir your lauita, ye shall take'it patiently f .1 But if, when ye do well and suffer for it. ye take it patiently, thia ia acceptable to Ged.'f . - . . J 1 c ;r ;, Jn other words, iPeter inculcates the obedi ence and submission of a slave to his master, whethrthe' roaster be' kind or cruel, a? : Christian duty enjoined ly ' conscience teooatti God', and teaches that patient endurance ef unjust chastisement ia a virtue peculiarly c? ceptable to God," '- - .. ; . " It is the peculiar beauty of Christianity that ' H. recognizes all the institutions and relatione of. human society as it finds tbenv and, in the prospect of an eternal equality hereafter, seeka to reconcile all men to the conditions in which they find themselves during their short probation on earth. It jrould make men and wivea more happy by inculcating fidelity and mutual confidence and affection ; it would make families more happy by teaching lore andTever : ence to children, and a gentle but firm exercise of authority to parents r it would make both . master and more happy, by enjoining justice . and kindness upon, the one and a willing obe .-dieiice, honesty and fidelity upon the other; it would make nations more happy, 'by teaching rulers to dispense equal justice to all and ia- 1 culcatibg upon the people ready submission to the magwtratea and the laws ; it would make all mankind more happy, bv persuading them to "love their neighbors as themselves"- 4o be content in the position where Providence Laa placed them, and "to do as they would be done by" upon a change of positions. . ;;. .... The epistle of Paul to Philemon gives us a beautiful picture of the relations which should exist between a Christian - master and a Christ , tian slave. It appears that Philemon though' a slaveholder, 'was a devoted Christian, with a "church ih.his house." , Paul found in Home . a runaway slave of this devoted Christian, called Onesimus, and converted him to Christian, ty. : . - '- '. . ' . . .... -,; ' Though he needed his services 10 his captivity, he deemed it his duty to send him back to his master with a letter in which he said; - "Perhaps he, - therefore, departed for a sea . son, that thou shouldest receive him forever ; not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother-beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and ia-the Lord." ' .' - . . '. ; . Now, suppose Philemon had had a thousand such servants, all members of his church, all contented and happy in their gospel brotherhood with their master, -and that -some Beecher or Cheever, by- preaching the modern : doctrine thatalavery is a sin, had broken trp thia brotherhood and sent its happy members ; to some ancient Canada to live On husks like the' prodigal s6'n,' do you think Paul would have recognized him as a true Christian? ? Hs would have been mors likely to denounce him as the "servant" of him who taught the happy " inroates'of Paradise that by eatipg the forbid, den fruit they would "become as gods, knowing good and evil." - . , .1 ; . 1 . This letter is already so long that I must reserve some further views of the subject, with its practical application, for another communication, - AJI0S KEX PALL. March 22,' 1862. A GrapMfi Description. :- - The following graphic accouot of the burning and total destruction of the rebel steamer Jeff Thompson, in the terrible naval .fight before Memphiawe take from an excellent let-t'sr by the special correspondent of the Chicago Tribunes ' ' - ' - ' ; . , A wide berth' was given to the burning vessel. The flames burst through the upper works, and curled around the chimneys,' The cotton bulwarks burned slowly, sending . out immense volnnies of white smoke.; ' ' The boilers, heated to redness, hissed -and smoked like a: million serpents, and . burst at last, enveloping ship, flames and all in a momentary mist. But though sharp and shrill the voice of escaping steam,v though sublime the sight, therewas a second sight,, grander ' than all others the explosion of her magazine!-It came. A mighty pillar of fire sprang from the burning hulk lifted itself four hundred feet spread out into an umbrella-like form of rolling, sulphuric clouds,' folding in' and In, ' rolling over and over in thick, heavy, creamy masses, filled with timbers, plank, barsofiron, fragments of charred timber and coals of fire, cannon, shot aod shell all commingled all raining down upon, forest,1 field and river,' as if an avalanche of meteors of vast proportions had fallen from heaven through a clondless sky to earth.' ; Then .came a shock which shook all the windows of Memphis and took away the breath of men not' far distant front the place.! Following the explosion were leaser ones, in the air above aad all around grand fiwilade of bursting shells, which went off like -fireworks of serpent, mines . and swarms of bees, filling the air with fragments of iron. The Benton was abreast of ihe'Thotitf on,,the Cairc above"5nd't'he2.:rLouis below, but all at a 'respectful distance;' and no damage as done by the explosion. - i'-.t.tzX v v; - - Great, TTar. The Toronto-Canada,) SXieader . in an ,ar-ticle on the ciyQ war in the United .Utea, Sayst ;;' '- -'-.' .--f' i--..-- c: Whert One brushes aws v the' haie'of ia-aedotf aad the daily details' of ' the "war: aad the outline of the preparations on both eidee are allowed to sUnd out boldly, in.relief,' Jheir magnitude almost strikes one with amaze-meet. ' : Six J hundred ' tbousa nd ined" pitted against each other in two localities, and either Krty. apparentlyriff"rent bortttriskieg a ttlel Modern ware afford no -jurallfcl to Sneh extraordinary preparatkui. : i Zhe- aio4 ia naturally carried back to the days of Xerxea to find anything in military annals to compare to the present war in the ftstca. .. Slavery ia the eaose of f he war, -and ehould, ... therefore, beabolUh ed, eay t h Abolit ipn i? ; . , , The assertion is as Tollfch as to claim 1 thai ' property Is the cause of theft, answer theXij-oerata: and they tare the best of the krra- "- tnentatlhi fcUowfeegre Joic ia. t.Vl more eoncrn;ve, rnd we commend - it t t prayerful ccasUcritin cfourJlbc!!Lloa reI- ers;."IIf tlavry rm the csase ob d? ?r--. p r. I eobt t-3 leV'F out, den de.r,', t . . .'3 tauseVf fe'ayrr and ought to be wij- i ct'tio; luue t-ar wcalllno warwiciwt t: ,'r , .: thar'woil l be no slavry ST: :i lis 1 " An' who Dtdt 4s nia? -TcVV-? t ... . don't r-H5.out too, nuch. -V s C '