hold slave property, notwithstanding that right had
been guaranteed to them by the Federal Constitution; their advocacy of
the right of the slave to arise in the night and cut his master's
throat; or, else, burn his house over his head; their advocacy of the
right of the North to force emancipation on the South, at the point of
the bayonet, &c.

It was these monstrous doctrines and assumptions, which were then, and
are to the present day, avowed and defended by abolition orators, that
alarmed the Southern people. It was not long before Northern
abolitionists were detected in circulating through the South, exciting
and incendiary publications, on the subject of slavery, and in some
instances, intermeddling with slaves, and trying to incite
insurrections among them. These things inflamed the public mind more
and more in the South. Legislatures met, and enacted laws still more
stringent for the punishment of such offenders; for the suppression of
public discussion; and they, withal, threw so many restrictions around
those who held slaves that in most of the states, emancipation became
exceedingly difficult, and in some of them, absolutely impracticable.
These are historical facts, and they are worth more than a volume of
any man's speculations on the subject of slavery. They speak for
themselves, and require but little comment from me. Who was it that
crushed in embryo, the reform which was in progress thirty-five years
ago? It was the abolitionists, and every one is aware of it, who is
informed on the subject; and intelligent men among the abolitionists
know it, as well as any one else. The officious inter-meddling of
abolitionists with Southern slavery, never has, and never can effect
anything for the slave; it has served but to retard emancipation, and
to rivet the chains of slavery. This opinion has been expressed a
thousand times, by the wisest and best men, that our nation has ever
produced--men, who enjoyed the best opportunities for forming correct
opinions on the subject. Henry Clay said, in a letter, written in
1845, "I firmly believe that the cause of the extinction of negro
slavery, far from being advanced, has been retarded by the agitation
of the subject at the North."

I believe slavery to be an individual and a national evil--a dire
calamity--and would rejoice to see it extinguished by any means
compatible with the safety, peace and prosperity of the nation, the
best interests of master and slave; and in