Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 20.djvu/278

 272 Southern Historical Society Papers.

ral death of slavery is the unprofitableness of its most expensive labor. the master or very soon after it has reached that stage if the slave will not run away from the master the master will run away from the slave; and this is the history of the passage from slavery to freedom of the villainage of England."
 * * The moment the labor of the slave ceases to be profitable to

The reasons of geography and worldly gain, which created such divergence of destiny North and South, are given by Judge McLean in his dissenting opinion in the Dred Scott case. " Many of the States on the adoption of the Constitution, or shortly afterwards, took measures to abolish slavery within their respective jurisdictions, and it is a well-known fact that a belief was cherished by the leading men South, as well as North, that the institution of slavery would gradu- ally decline until it would become extinct. The increased value of slave labor in the culture of cotton and sugar prevented the realiza- tion of their expectations. Like all other communities and States, the South were influenced by what they considered their own inter- ests." The peculiarity of the situation was that while the people of the South were acting " like all other communities and States," they were abused and accused as though none other had ever been so wicked, and as though their abusers and accusers had ever lived void of offence before God and man. The accusers, who had so comfor- tably purged themselves of their own sins, suffered such a very brief interval to elapse, before arraying themselves in their white raiment for the excommunication of others who, it is true, had moved more slowly, but who had so very much more difficulty to overcome and expediency to resist.

THEY WERE SOLD TO US.

One cannot but recall that which is narrated of Zachary Macaulay, the father of Thomas Babingham, who made a fortune in the slave trade, and when that was done joined the anti-slavery people, and secured some handsome appointments by attacking the aforesaid business. It was well said on the floor of the Virginia Legislature by John Thompson Brown in answer to English invective: " They sold us these slaves they assumed a vendor's responsibility and it is not for them to question the validity of our title." And it was equally relevant to say to some others : " Your position involves the right of a grantor to revoke a grant without the consent of the