t was then
universally acknowledged that slavery was a sin and shame, and ought to
be abolished, and it was expected that it would be soon abolished in
every state of the Union. Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and Benjamin
Franklin would not allow the word 'slave' to occur in the constitution,
and Mr. Edwards, from the pulpit, clearly and broadly denounced slavery.
And when he (Professor Stowe) was a boy, in Massachusetts the negro
children were admitted to the same schools with the whites. Although
there was some prejudice of color then, yet it was not so strong as at
present. In 1818, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in the
United States passed, resolutions against slavery far stronger than
those passed at the meeting this evening, and every man, north and
south, voted for them. What had caused the change? It was the
profitableness of the cotton trade. It was that which had spread the
chains of slavery over the Union, and silenced the church upon the
subject. He had been asked, what right had Great Britain to interfere?
Why, Great Britain took four fifths of the cotton of America, and
therefore sustained four fifths of the slavery. That gave them a right
to interfere. [Hear, hear!] He admitted that our participation in the
guilt was not direct, but without the cotton, trade of Great Britain
slavery would have been abolished long ago, for the American
manufacturers consumed but one fifth of all the cotton grown in the
country. The conscience of the cotton growers was talked of; but had the
cotton consumer no conscience? [Cheers.] It seemed to him that the
British public had more direct access to the consumer than to the grower
of cotton." Professor Stowe then read an extract from a paper published
in Charleston, South Carolina, showing the influence of the American
cotton trade on the slavery question. "The price of cotton regulated the
price of slaves, who were now worth an average of two hundred pounds. A
cotton plantation required in some cases two hundred, and in others four
hundred slaves. This would give an idea of the capital needed. With free
labor there was none of this outlay--there was none of those losses by
the cholera, and the 'underground railroad,' to which the slave owners
were subjected. [Hear, hear!] The Chinese had come over in large
numbers, and could be hired for small wages, on which they managed to
live well in their way. If people would encourage free-grown cotton,
that would be the s