respective States, and the strong disapprobation of their
neighbors. I know a lady in Georgia who would, I believe, make any
personal sacrifice to instruct her slaves, and give them freedom; but
if she were found guilty of teaching the alphabet, or manumitting her
slaves, fines and imprisonment would be the consequence; if she sold
them, they would be likely to fall into hands less merciful than her
own. Of such slave-owners we cannot speak with too much respect and
tenderness. They are comparatively few in number, and stand in a most
perplexing situation; it is a duty to give all our sympathy to _them_.
It is mere mockery to say, what is so often said, that the Southerners,
as a body, really wish to abolish slavery. If they wished it, they
certainly would make the attempt. When the majority heartily desire a
change, it is effected, be the difficulties what they may. The Americans
are peculiarly responsible for the example they give; for in no other
country does the unchecked voice of the people constitute the whole of
government.

We must not be induced to excuse slavery by the plausible argument that
England introduced it among us. The wickedness of beginning such a work
unquestionably belongs to her; the sin of continuing it is certainly
our own. It is true that Virginia, while a province, did petition
the British government to check the introduction of slaves into the
colonies; and their refusal to do so was afterward enumerated among the
public reasons for separating from the mother country: but it is equally
true that when we became independent, the Southern States stipulated
that the slave-trade should not be abolished by law until 1808.

The strongest and best reason that can be given for our supineness on
the subject of slavery, is the fear of dissolving the Union. The
Constitution of the United States demands our highest reverence. Those
who approve, and those who disapprove of particular portions, are
equally bound to yield implicit obedience to its authority. But we must
not forget that the Constitution provides for any change that may be
required for the general good. The great machine is constructed with
a safety-valve, by which any rapidly increasing evil may be expelled
whenever the people desire it.

If the Southern politicians are determined to make a Siamese question
of this also--if they insist that the Union shall not exist without
slavery--it can only be said that they join two things, which have