A Review of Uncle Toms Cabin | Page 8

journal says, "The people of England will never rest, till slavery is terminated in the United States;" and another says, "Slavery can only be reached through the Federal Constitution." That is, slavery can only be reached, by destroying our present form of government, and dissolving our Union. The English are well aware, that they cannot reach slavery in this country, except by dissolving our Union and involving us in civil war; in which war, of course, they expect to take an active part. In the name of God, are we prepared for all this? Have we ever counted the cost? I hope I shall be pardoned for using strong language, when I allude to this subject. It is enough. Who that loves his country, can keep cool, while reflecting on these things? Is it not almost enough to make a Christian swear? No my friends we will not swear about it; but I entreat you to keep your eyes upon that old rascal, John Bull. He needs watching, and his Northern allies in the United States, are as vile scamps as he is.
I might quote from English journals, and English statesmen, to show what her feelings, views, and intentions have been in relation to this country; but I forbear at present. We know that her unwarrantable interference with the civil institutions of our country, did not originate in any sympathy that she felt for the oppressed African in our midst. The idea is ridiculous. The whole history of the English government proves the contrary. Talk about the English government sympathizing with the oppressed of other nations. It is nonsense--a ridiculous inconsistency. No part of the English government can be pointed out, in which there is not worse slavery in some form or other, than there is in the United States:--yes, worse, far worse, than negro-slavery in the Southern States. What says Southy, the English poet, of the great mass of the English poor? He says that "they are deprived, in childhood, of all instruction, and enjoyment. They grow up without decency--without comfort--without hope--without morals, and without shame." The North British Review expressed similar sentiments. If I am correctly informed, negro slavery, itself, is not extinct in the British dominions. I am aware that they call it an apprenticeship, but it is slavery notwithstanding. Yes, it is involuntary slavery and nothing else. But yet she would have us believe that she feels an intense interest in African slavery, in the United States. How does it happen that she is so interested about slavery among us, but is deaf to the cry of her own enslaved and starving millions, in British India, and other parts of her dominions? It is said that in 1838, five hundred thousand perished of famine, in a single district, in British India; and that too within the reach of English granaries locked up, and guarded by a military force! This is a fair sample of English benevolence; _alias_, English cupidity. And what says Allison the English historian of wretched Ireland? Her history and her sufferings are familiar to every one. He avows the opinion, in his History of Europe, "that it would be a real blessing to its inhabitants, in lieu of the destitution of freedom, to obtain the protection of slavery." And Murray the English traveler says of the slaves of the United States, "if they could forget that they are slaves, their condition is decidedly better than the great mass of European laborers." And what said Dr. Durbin a few years ago of the British nation? He told us that "the mass of the people were slaves, and the few were masters without the responsibility of masters." He proceeds to tell us, that the condition of the slaves of the United States, is in every respect better than millions in Ireland and England. This is the testimony of a distinguished minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, (North,) whom, nobody will suspect of any undue partiality for Southern slave-holders. When we look at the "degradation, the slavery, the exile, the hunger, the toil, the filth and the nakedness," of the English poor, we are astonished at the brazen impudence of that cruel, godless, and hypocritical nation! Nor are we less surprised, when we think of the ungodly crew of fools and fanatics in the United States, who are leagued with that monster England to overthrow their own government! I have said, and I boldly reiterate the assertion, that slavery exists in every part of the British dominions, in a form far worse than negro slavery in the United States! And I am able to corroborate the truth of the remark, by a volume of the most reliable testimony; and much of that might be drawn from the admissions of English Journals, and English statesmen. I will