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A Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin by A. Woodward

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A REVIEW OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN;

OR,

AN ESSAY ON SLAVERY,



BY A. WOODWARD, M.D.



CINCINNATI:
PUBLISHED BY APPLEGATE & CO.


1853


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853,
BY A. WOODWARD, M.D.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States,
for the District of Indiana.




PREFACE.


For the last two years a "still small voice" has constantly whispered
to me, in private and in public, at home and abroad, saying, _write!_
It was in vain that I strove to quiet this inward monitor by pleading
incapacity, poverty, want of time, &c.; he heeded not my excuses. I
inquired what would become of my dependant family, should I relinquish
the practice of my profession and engage in other pursuits? He
answered, "Put thy trust in the Lord, and _write!_" I yielded not to
his monitions, but continued with unabated ardor the practice of my
profession, until the latter part of autumn, 1852, when I was suddenly
prostrated by disease, and forced to desist from the practice of
medicine. I then commenced as soon as I was able, the preparation of a
work, which I contemplated bringing before the public at some future
period, provided I should live. In accordance with the plan of the
proposed work, an essay on African slavery was to close the volume.
After I had finished about a hundred pages manuscript, in order, the
question of African slavery in the United States suddenly thrust
itself upon my mind with such force, that I found it somewhat
difficult to investigate any other subject. My mind at the time was
enervated by disease, and by no means well disciplined. Hence I could
not control it. For this reason, I at once concluded to draw up a
skeleton or outline of my essay on slavery; after which I contemplated
resuming my work in regular order. It was about this time that my
health rapidly declined, and I became so feeble that I could not sit
at my table more than one or two hours in twenty-four. In this
condition, by a slow process, I finished from chapter i, to the close
of chapter xiii. The Introduction was written afterwards, to supply
some obvious defects in that portion of the work alluded to.

None need tell me that there are defects and imperfections in the
work. I am well aware of the fact, but could not remedy them without
re-writing the whole, and that was impracticable under the
circumstances. Critics need not trouble themselves about its defects
as a literary production, as I lay no claim to merit on that ground.
Having been actively engaged in the practice of an arduous and
perplexing profession for the last twenty-five years, I am aware that
my qualifications for authorship must be somewhat defective. I was
moreover forced to write, when my corporeal system was exhausted, and
my mental powers oppressed by a complication of diseases. There are
not many, I conceive, who will find any difficulty in clearly
comprehending the ideas I intended to convey; if so, my object is
accomplished.

The work was written under disadvantageous circumstances; but such as
it is, I cast it out on the great sea of public opinion to abide its
fate. If good is accomplished thereby, I shall rejoice; but if it is
destined to sink into oblivion, I shall console myself with the
reflection that I had no other object in writing, but the correction
of error and the welfare of my fellow creatures. I may err, but I
appeal to "the searcher of all hearts" for the purity of my motives
and intentions. Whatever may be the effects of this work on the public
mind; light and truth were my aim, and the best interests of my fellow
beings, my sole object.

I appear before the public with reluctance, and am exceedingly
mortified that it has fallen to my lot to treat any portion of my
fellow citizens with severity; but I am nevertheless prepared to meet
the sneers and frowns of those implicated. I shall offer no apology
for the harsh language which will be occasionally found in this
volume; as a desperate disease requires an active remedy. If I could,
however, have re-written the work, I would have changed, in some
places, the phraseology. I have brought many and serious charges
against the abolition faction in the United States, but those who are
not guilty of the charges alleged, need not feel aggrieved thereby. My
remarks, for the most part refer to what is called _ultra-abolitionism_.

It is probable that I have occasionally quoted the language of others,
without marking the same as a quotation. If so, it was not
intentional. I could not, in doubtful cases, refer to writers whose
ideas I may have used, on account of ill health. In quoting from the
Bible I relied almost entirely on my own memory; but I presume I am
generally correct.

I have now finished a task--by no means a pleasant one--and I have
done it with a trembling hand, for the subject is a delicate one--a
subject of intense interest, under the existing circumstances, to
every American citizen. To me, the signs of the times appear to be
ominous--to forebode evil! I sometimes fear that our political sun has
passed the zenith--lowering clouds intercept his rays, and at times
obscure his former brightness, majesty and glory. The ship of State is
tossed by furious winds, and threatened by boisterous waves--rocks and
quicksands are on the right and left--an awful wreck awaits her, and
can only be averted by vigilance, prudence, caution and circumspection
on the part of her crew.

GREENCASTLE, IND., May, 1853.




Transcriber's Note: The CONTENTS are printed at the end of this book.




REVIEW OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN;

OR

AN ESSAY ON SLAVERY.


INTRODUCTION.


SECTION I.

Since the following chapters were prepared for the press, my attention
was directed by a friend, to a letter published in a Northern paper,
which detailed some shocking things, that the writer had seen and
heard in the South; and also some severe strictures on the institution
of domestic slavery in the Southern States, &c.

I have in the following work, related an anecdote of a young lawyer,
who being asked how he could stand up before the court, and with
unblushing audacity state falsehoods; he very promptly answered, "I
was well paid; I received a large fee, and could therefore afford to
lie." I infer from the class of letters referred to, that the writers
are generally "well paid" for their services.

It has long been a practice of abolition editors in the Northern
States, when they were likely to run short of matter, to employ some
worthy brother, to travel South, and manufacture articles for their
papers. Many of those articles are falsehoods; and most of them, if
not all, are exaggerations.

No man who will consent to go south, and perform this dirty work, is
capable of writing truth. And moreover, many of the letters published
in abolition papers, purporting to have been written from some part of
the South, were concocted by editors and others at home; the writers
never having traveled fifty miles from their native villages. But some
of them do travel South and write letters; and it is of but little
consequence what they see, or what they hear; they have engaged to
write letters, and letters they must write: letters too, of a certain
character; and if they fail to find material in the South, it then
devolves on them to manufacture it.

They have engaged to furnish food for the depraved appetites of a
certain class of readers in the North; and furnish it they must, by
some means. They truly, are an unlucky set of fellows, for I never yet
heard of one of them, who was so fortunate as to find anything good or
praiseworthy among Southern people. This is very strange indeed! They
travel South with an understanding on the part of their employer, and
with an intention on their part, to misrepresent the South, and to
excite prejudice in Northern minds. How devoid of patriotism, truth
and justice. The mischief done by these misrepresentations is
inconceivable. If every abolitionist North of Mason and Dixon's line,
were separately and individually asked, from whence he derived his
opinions and prejudices in relation to Southern men, and Southern
slavery, nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand would
answer, that they had learned all that they knew about slavery and
slaveholders from the publication of abolitionists: not one in a
thousand among them having ever seen a southern slave or his master.
"Truth is stranger than fiction;" and it is also becoming more rare.
No wonder people are misled, when the country is flooded with
abolition papers and Uncle Tom's Cabin. No one can read such
publications without being misled by them, unless he is, or has been,
a resident of a slave State. It is thus that materials are furnished
for abolition papers and such publications as Uncle Tom's Cabin; and
it is thus that the public mind is poisoned, public morals vitiated,
and honest but ignorant men led to say and do many things, which must,
sooner or later, result in deplorable consequences, unless something
can be brought to bear on the public mind that will counteract the
evil. The writer hopes, through the blessing of God, that the
following pages will prove an efficient antidote.

Southern people have their faults; they err in many things: and far be
it from me, under such circumstances, to become their apologist. It is
not as a defender of the South I appear before the public, but in
defense of my country, North and South. We are all brethren; we are
all citizens of the same heaven-favored country; and how residents of
one part of it can spend their lives in vilifying, traducing, and
misrepresenting those of another portion of it, is, to me,
unaccountable. It is strange, indeed! I entreat my countrymen to
reflect soberly on these things; and in the name of all that is sacred
I entreat you, my abolition friends, to pause a while, in your mad
career, and review the whole ground. It may be that some of you may
yet see the error of your course. I cannot give you all up. I trust in
God that you are not all given over to "hardness of heart and
reprobacy of mind." A word to the reader. Pass on--hear me
through--never mind my harsh expressions and uncouth language. Truth
is not very palatable, to any of us, at all times. Crack the nut; it
may be that you will find a kernel within that will reward you for
your trouble.

False impressions have been made, and continue to be made by the
writers alluded to above; sectional hatred is engendered, North and
South; and if this incessant warfare continues, it will, at no very
distant day, produce a dissolution of this Union. This result is
inevitable if the present state of things continues. Has the agitation
and discussion of the question of African slavery, in the free States,
resulted in any good, or is it ever likely to result in any? I flatter
myself that I have clearly shown, in the following pages, that
hitherto its consequences have been evil and only evil, and that
nothing but evil can grow out of it in future. I think that I have
adduced historical facts which clearly and indisputably prove that
northern agitation has served but to rivet the chains of slavery; that
it has retarded emancipation; that it has augmented the evils and
hardships of slavery; that it has inflicted injury on both masters and
servants; that it has engendered sectional hatred which endangers the
peace, prosperity, and perpetuity of the Union. Why, then, will
abolitionists persist in a course so inconsistent; so contrary to
reason; so opposed to truth, righteousness, and justice? They need not
tell me that slavery is an evil; that slavery is a curse; that slavery
is a hardship, and that it ought to be extinguished. I admit it; but
this is not the question. On this head I have no controversy with
them. The question is, whether their course of procedure is ever
likely to remove or mitigate the evils of slavery. Are we prepared, in
our efforts to remove the evils of slavery, to incur the risk of
subjecting ourselves to calamities infinitely worse that African
slavery itself? Or rather, is there the remotest probability,
supposing the plans and schemes of abolitionists should be carried
out, the Union dissolved, and the country plunged into civil war, that
slavery would thereby be abolished in the southern States?

These are the questions at issue between the abolition party and the
writer; and these are among the prominent questions discussed in the
following pages. It is true that I have hastily glanced at slavery in
all its bearings, but it was the fell spirit of abolitionism which
first attracted my attention, and induced me to investigate the
subject. It was its revolutionary designs and tendencies, its contempt
of all law, human and Divine, that first impressed my mind with the
necessity of prompt and efficient action on the part of the friends of
our country. It was the unparalleled circulation of Uncle Tom's Cabin
that aroused my fears, and excited in my mind apprehensions of danger.
If such productions as Uncle Tom's Cabin are to give tone to public
sentiment in the North, then assuredly are we in danger. Should Mrs.
Stowe's vile aspersion of southern character, and her loose, reckless
and wicked misrepresentations of the institution of slavery in the
southern States ever become accredited in the northern section of the
Union I fear the consequence. I sometimes survey the condition of my
country with consternation and dismay, and tremble in prospect of what
may yet occur. History records the rise and fall of nations. We read
of revolutions, butcheries, and blood. We have flattered ourselves
that our beloved country for ages to come, and probably forever, is
destined to escape these calamities. But, O God! how mortifying the
reflection that there are now, in our midst, religious fanatics and
political demagogues, who for a little paltry gain or notoriety would
plunge us into all these evils!

I have repeatedly, in the following pages charged the abolition
faction with revolutionary designs and tendencies. Some may doubt the
truth and justice of the charge; but I beg such persons to recollect
that abolition writers and orators have, times without number, avowed
an intention to overthrow this government; but it matters not what
their avowed designs and intentions are, for their lawless and
seditious course leads directly to that result. If they ever succeed
in carrying out their plans and schemes we know that revolution and
disunion will be the consequence. It was remarked by Mr.
Frelinghuysen, of New York, on a certain occasion, that "abolitionists
are seeking to destroy our happy Union." Chancellor Walworth says,
"They are contemplating a violation of the rights of property secured
by the Constitution, and pursuing measures which must lead to civil
war."

The union of these States is based on what has been called the slavery
compromise; and the Union would have never taken place, had not the
right to hold slave property been secured to the slave states, by a
provision in the Federal Constitution. Had not the free states
relinquished all right to interfere with slavery in the slave states,
no union of the slave and free states could ever have taken place. The
right to hold slave property, and to manage, control, and dispose of
that property in their own way, and at their own discretion, was
secured to the slave states by a solemn contract between the slave and
non-slaveholding states, and that contract binds every individual in
this nation, North and South. Slave property then, is held under the
protection of the supreme law of the nation, and any citizen invading
the rights of the South, is guilty of a civil trespass. Hence, all
interference with slavery by northern men, is a violation of the
spirit, if not of the letter of that constitutional compact, which
binds these states together. Any attempt by northern men, either
direct or indirect, to dispossess the South of her slave property, or
in any way to endanger or injuriously to affect their interests
therein, is a violation of the supreme law of the nation. It is an act
of bad faith--of gross injustice, and none but bigoted corrupt
fanatics, and low political demagogues, would be guilty of so base an
act.

It is clear then, that the slave states never will yield to the
requisitions of abolitionists, and should that faction ever become the
dominant party in the free states, dissolution of the Union will be a
necessary consequence _Intelligent men_, who will persist in a course
of conduct so unjust, so illegal, with a perfect knowledge of the
probable consequences; are to all intents and purposes, as truly
traitors to their country, as was Benedict Arnold; and as such, they
should be viewed and treated. Mark my words, reader, I say,
_intelligent men_, for nine out of every ten among those who have been
seduced into the abolition net, are objects of pity, and not of
contempt or indignation. Poor souls, they are ignorant; it is, I
suppose, their misfortune and not their fault.

In order that I may be clearly understood, I will reiterate tho
foregoing argument. Before the adoption of the Federal constitution,
the states were to a great extent sovereign and independent, and of
course were in a condition to settle terms on which to form a more
perfect union. The North and the South, otherwise, the slave-holding
and the non-slaveholding states met in convention to settle those
_terms_. The North in convention conceded to the South the right to
hold slave property; and the sole right of making all laws necessary
for the regulation of slavery. It was thus, we see, by a solemn
contract or agreement, that the South acquired exclusive right to
control domestic slavery within her borders. What right then, have the
citizens of free states, to intermeddle with it? They have none, as
long as the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The
union of these states is based on that instrument, and whenever we
cease faithfully to observe its provisions, the Union must necessarily
cease to exist. All interference then on the part of the North,
endangering the rights or injuriously affecting the interests of the
South in slave property, is a violation of the supreme law of the
nation. I need not say more; the argument must be clear to every one;
and I think the duty of all concerned equally clear.

Ralfe, referring to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, says,
"It was no easy task to reconcile the local interests and discordant
prepossessions of different sections of the United States, but it was
accomplished by acts of concession." Madison says, "Mutual deference
and concession were absolutely necessary," and that the Southern
States never would have entered the Union, without concession as to
slave property. And Governor Randolph informs us, "That the Southern
States conceived their property in slaves to be secured by this
arrangement?"

We are also informed by Patrick Henry, Chief Justice Tiglman,
Chancellor Kent, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Justice Shaw, Chief
Justice Parker, Edward Everett and others, that no union of these
states ever could have taken place, had not the right to hold slave
property, and the sole right to control that property been conceded to
the southern States. And, Edward Everett, moreover, tells us that the
northern States "deemed it a point of the highest policy, to enter
with the slave states into the present Union." The reader will
observe, that a majority of the authorities referred to, are northern
men of the highest distinction.

I remarked in the preceding pages, that whoever invades the rights of
the South in her slave property, violates the law of the land, and is
guilty of a civil trespass; and I will now prove from the sacred
record, that in opposing the civil laws of their country, they violate
the laws of God, and consequently are guilty of a moral trespass. The
primitive church of Christ was, under all circumstances, and at all
times, subordinate to the civil authorities. They never stopped to
inquire whether the laws were good or bad, just or unjust; their
business was to obey the laws and not to find fault with them.

Christ and his apostles enjoined on their followers unreserved
obedience and submission to the civil authorities. I need not here
quote the language of our Saviour; it must be familiar to every Bible
reader. I will, however, quote the remarks of St. Paul and St. Peter,
on this topic. The former says, "Let every soul be subject to the
higher powers." "Whosoever therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth
the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation." He instructs Bishop Titus to put his flock "in mind to be
subject to principalities and powers, and to obey magistrates, to be
ready to every good work." "To speak evil of no man, to be no
brawlers, but gentle, showing meekness unto all men." St. Peter says,
"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of men for the Lord's sake;
whether to the king as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that
are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers." There is neither
precept nor precedent in the Bible, which will countenance opposition
to the laws of our country. No, not one word in the sacred volume,
that can be thus construed. Opposition and resistance to the civil
authorities, is one of the many corruptions winch have crept into the
church of Christ. Men "have become wise above what is written;" and
truly as our Saviour said unto the ancient scribes and pharisees,
"they shall receive the greater damnation."

What a marked contrast between Christ and his apostles, and the
apostles of modern reform, _alias_ abolitionists. How dare they
professing Christianity to fly in the face of the laws of their
country? How dare they resist the execution of those laws? How dares
Mrs. Stowe inculcate disobedience and open resistance to her country's
laws? Great God! shall our country ever be freed from the dark and
damnable deeds of religious fanatics? Shall our country ever be freed
from the curse of curses, religious ultraism, bigotry, and delusion?
Let those who profess to be the followers of the meek and lowly
Jesus--those who profess to take the Bible as their guide, cease from
their unwarrantable and seditious opposition to the laws of their
country; or otherwise let them renounce the Bible, lay aside their
Christian garb, and appear before us in their true colors, that we may
know who they are, what they are, whom they serve, and under what
standard they are fighting. Throw off your masks, gentlemen; don't try
to deceive us any longer; some of us understand you, and we intend to
expose you, and hold you up to the public gaze, as long as the good
Lord will vouchsafe to us health and strength sufficient to sit in our
seats, and hold a pen in our hands. Your conduct is a reproach to the
Christian name, a stigma on the Christian character.


SECTION II.

There are nearly four millions of slaves in the United States; and the
question now presents itself to every free born American citizen; what
are we to do with them? The abolition party demand their immediate
emancipation. Is it practicable, safe, or proper? What would be the
consequences? What would be the consequence of turning loose upon
ourselves four millions of human beings, to prowl about like wild
beasts without restraint, or control, and commit depredations on the
white population? Four millions of human beings without property or
character, and utterly devoid of all sense of honor and shame, or any
other restraining motive or influence whatever! And they too, under
the ban of a prejudice, as firm, as fixed as the laws which govern the
material universe. In that event, is it not probable; is it not almost
certain, that there would be either a general massacre of the slaves,
or otherwise that the white population would be forced to abandon the
soil? Will any one pretend to deny that either entire extinction of
the African race would be likely to result from universal
emancipation, supposing the manumitted slaves should remain in our
midst, or that otherwise the consequences would be disastrous to the
white population? None, I presume. What then shall we do? The slaves
are among us; they must be governed and provided for, and is it not
our duty in making provisions for them, to act with reference to the
general welfare of all concerned--white and black? Is there an
intelligent man in this nation, who has reflected on the subject, that
really believes that the condition of the African race in the United
States, would be bettered or improved in any respect, by immediate
emancipation? I have clearly shown in the following pages that it
would not. Facts prove the contrary. Yes, stubborn undeniable facts,
that none but a knave or a fool will gainsay. We know that
improvidence, idleness, vagrancy, and crime, are the fruits of
emancipation; not only in the United States, but also in the West
Indies. We have already stated on good English authority, (Lord
Brougham), that the West India free negroes, are rapidly retrograding
into their original barbarism and brutality; and the London Times
quite recently asserted, that the British emancipation experiment was
a failure; that the negro would not work; that his freedom was little
better than that of a brute; that the island was going to the dogs,
and the negroes would have to be removed, &c. Have we any reason to
believe, that a different result would follow emancipation in the
United States? No, we have none, for it is a notorious fact, that free
negroes are everywhere idle and vicious in this country, and that
crime among them is ten-fold more common than it is among Southern
slaves.

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