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destitution. And emancipate the slaves of the south, and the result would be, that while a few would resort to voluntary labor, the great mass of them would become idle and profligate, and, allured by that mistaken philanthropy which set them free, they would bend their steps northward.
And, therefore, I object to it, in the fifth place, because an influx of free negroes from the south, would have a most pernicious and disastrous influence upon the honest, industrious and virtuous poor, residing on the confines of the now slave-holding states. Those blacks, finding that they must work or starve, would, in order to get employment, work for lower wages than the white man received, who would be thrown out of employ: and pauperism and its concomitant taxes would rapidly increase; and for one thief you now have, you would have five or ten—and loafers, beggars and vagabonds in proportion; with your jails and almshouses filled to overflowing.
I object to it, in the sixth place, because its doctrines are at war with the order and constitution of God’s economy.
One of the leading doctrines of abolitionists is the silly and ideal sentiment of perfect equality, to which they would bring all things in social life. But, in this, they are waging a hopeless war against the arrangements and dispensations of God; for there is not a single fact or analogy in either the world of matter nor the world of mind to support this silly and ideal sentiment. There is no such thing as absolute equality anywhere—nor can such a thing exist among the creatures of God any more than absolute independence. Nor is it equality, but inequality that produces order and harmony in the universe of God.
The three sons of Noah were not equal—nor were the blessings pronounced upon Shem and Japheth equal. Japheth was, by the conditions of that blessing, made superior to Shem—and that superiority he does and ever will retain. Japheth has the start of Shem, and he will keep it; and Shem has the start of Ham, and he will keep that too. And so it is with all the divisions and sub-divisions of the three great families of man.
Society in all ages and nations resembles a snake with its head and tail: the tail may now be where the head was—but the head is still as far in advance of the tail, as at the beginning; nor can the tail ever overtake the head. And just so is it with the fabric of society. The servants of the nobility of Europe, are, at this time,
