s. The division is broader and deeper and more incurable than
this. The antagonism is fundamental and ineradicable. The true secret of
it lies in the total reversion of public opinion which has occured in
both sections of the country in the last quarter of a century on the
subject of slavery.

It has not been more than twenty-five years since Garrison was dragged
through the streets of Boston with a rope around his neck, for uttering
Abolition sentiments; and not thirty years since, the abolition of
slavery was seriously debated in the Legislature of Virginia. Now, on
the contrary, the radical opinions of Sumner, Emerson and Parker, and
the assassination schemes of John Brown, are applauded in Fanueil Hall,
and the whole Southern mind with an unparalelled unanimity, regards the
institution of slavery as righteous and just, ordained of God, and to be
perpetuated by man. We do not propose to analyze the causes of this
remarkable revolution, which will constitute one of the strangest
chapters of history. The fact is unquestionable. To understand
rationally the events which are transpiring, and to forsee their
inevitable issue, it is necessary to examine this element of discord
between the Northern and Southern people, to investigate its true nature
and extent, and weigh carefully the prospect of its cure.

The Northern mind has become thoroughly anti-slavery in sentiment. Even
those who contend for our constitutional rights share in the universal
opinion that slavery is a great moral and social evil. Those who have
adopted the pro-slavery view are exceedingly few in numbers, and are
regarded by the mass of Northern people as more fanatical than the most
extreme Abolitionist. The press, the pulpit, the rostrum of the North
are clamorous with declamation against us and our institutions. Slavery
is considered not only immoral but debasing to both owner and owned. It
is, they say, a relic of barbarism and a disgrace to an enlightened
people. We are not regarded as equals but are merely tolerated, as
persons whom they in their wisdom may possibly reform and improve.
Churches refuse us participation in religious rites, and a baleful
element of religious hate adds fuel to the fire of political dissension.
From present appearances, the North will before very long be unanimous
in opinion, and if it has the power or can invent the means, it will be
ready to reduce the South to the condition of Hayti and Jamaica, and
expect the appr